One Last Time
by AllLeyton
Summary: Peyton's had enough of Haley, Brooke's on team Peyton, Luke is hanging in the balance and Nathan and Haley are on the rocks Strong Peyton/Haley/Nathan frienship/ Leyton eventually
1. Chapter 1

SUMMARY: Lucas has not idea that Peyton showed up at the book signing in L.A. and she doesn't tell him until much later than she does in the show. She's come back to Tree Hill to try and save what they once had. Based in Season 5 with adjustments. Will be Leyton eventually, all characters mentioned or involved.

Season 5 is a pet peeve for me and I needed to write down how it should have gone if bringing, **shuddering**, Lindsey in was truly necessary. (I like Peyton with a backbone not Peyton the doormat.) WARNING: TO ALL HALEY AND LINDSEY FANS this fic does not show them as sweet and loveable. It shows them the way I personally see them. If this upsets anyone I apologize. Haley will get her "redeeming" qualities back at some point but Lindsey, not so much cause I don't see her as having any…

DISCLAIMER: I do not own OTH except on DVD. I am not now nor will I ever be Mark Schwahn, a member of the CW, cast or crew of the show. I'm just a huge fan that likes to play in their sandbox. Any and all band names, lyrics, and song titles that may come up are owned by them not by me.

Chapter 1 Smack Down

Peyton sat at the control panel of her music studio absolutely staggered by her friend's latest tirade. She could feel the now familiar sensation of her blood and temper boiling just below the surface of her skin. She'd been able to keep her mouth shut, not wanting to cause friction among her small group of friends. She'd taken it all without a word. The snide comments, the dirty looks and having Lucas' fiancée, Lindsey, rubbed in her face at every opportunity. She swallowed it all, pushing down her personal pain to keep things drama free for the others but this last attack had brought end to her self-restraint. She took several deep breaths trying to regain a modicum of the control she had managed to maintain these last few months. IT DIDN'T WORK! She exploded in a show of pure blind rage! She slapped the woman sitting beside her as hard as she could, the echo bouncing off the walls of the enclosed space.

Haley reached up, placing her hand on her cheek where Peyton had slapped her, tears running down her face, too stunned to speak.

"Who in the hell do you think you are?" Peyton snapped. "What gives you the right to speak to me that way? I have been taking your crap for months and I'm not going to put up with any more of it Haley! I have allowed you to berate, belittle and humiliate me both privately and publicly without defending myself in some naïve attempt of saving our friendship! You have paraded your precious little friend, Lindsey, in front of me time and time again for no other purpose than to cause me pain, but this little performance tonight was the final straw!" Peyton was caught up in the pure fury of months of mistreatment at the hands of her so called friend.

"Peyton…" Haley began in a low shaky voice.

The blonde held up a finger to forestall Haley's interruption, her hand trembling from her barely controlled anger. "You think that you have the right to call me a liar because I didn't tell you that I came back to Tree Hill because of Lucas!" she yelled. "You assume that because he is your best friend that I, in some way, owe you some kind of explanation as to why I've come home, to my home town! I have news for you, Haley James Scott, your Lucas' best friend NOT mine. I OWE YOU NOTHING!"

Haley stood, "I don't have to take this from you, Peyton!" She started to walk toward the door.

"I've put up with your bullshit for months, you're not leaving until I've finished having my say," she grabbed the smaller woman by the arm and gave her a push into the chair against the wall. She backed away slightly giving some distance between herself and the smaller woman. She needed to keep close enough to prevent her leaving and far enough away to keep herself from striking her again. The rage still burned bright inside her, the blonde started again, "You, of all people, have the audacity to call me a cheater because I kissed Lucas! Does the name Chris Keller mean anything to you, MRS Scott?" she raised her eyebrow knowingly and emphasizing the Mrs.

Haley's mouth dropped open at the mention of Chris, "How dare you!" she shrieked.

"How dare I? You've got to be joking me. You think you can call me a cheater and I've somehow over stepped myself by calling you out on your own indiscretion. I'm not married, but you were when you kissed Chris and took off on tour with him, weren't you? And like you, Haley, Lucas was a willing participant in that kiss, so if you want to call someone a cheater, you should try talking to him or the reflection of the person you see when you look in the mirror every morning. And just so we're clear, I can kiss anyone I damn well please and its none of your freaking business!" She could feel the rage starting to ebb. "Now get your cheating, self-righteous ass out of my studio! You can consider our friendship null and void, Haley, cause I'm done with you and in case you wondering, your fired." she said flatly, a note of total indifference apparent in her voice, backing up further giving the married woman clear access to the door.

Haley ran for the it, tears streaming down her face unchecked. She stopped at the exit, for just a moment, looking back toward the blonde, who until a few moments ago, had been her friend. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, that may possibly save their friendship but Peyton had already turned her back to the door. She realized then that she had crossed some invisible line and that she could no longer call Peyton Sawyer, friend. She turned away and let the door swing closed behind her.

When the sound of Haley's footfalls finally faded away and the door had clicked shut, Peyton was finally able to release the tears that had formed in her eyes. She and Haley had been friends since their junior year of high school and it was all over now. _"You've done it now, Peyton," _she whispered aloud to herself. She'd been walking on eggshells since she'd returned from Los Angeles. She'd done everything she could to keep things from getting to this point except for talking to someone about it. Peyton believed she could handle anything they threw at her. She had permitted them to get to her and this was the result. The most surprising part of this for Peyton, was that she couldn't find any remorse for her words or her actions. She'd thrown down the gauntlet, and she knew that now the war was on, whether she wanted it to be or not. She sat down at her desk and pulled out her sketchbook, deciding to lose herself in the drawing. She knew this would be the last peace and quiet she'd have in Tree Hill for a while and she was taking advantage of it.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks for the review and story alerts.. Here's chapter 2 hope you enjoy it. R&R.. Chapter 3 up tomorrow_

_Disclaimer: Still don't own OTH, not MS, CW, cast or crew_

_Chapter 2 Not Haley's Night_

_Haley walked quickly through the nightclub that held the office of Peyton's record label as fast as she could, quickly shot down the flight of stairs and into the driver's seat of her truck. She reached into the pocket of her purse and grabbed her cell phone._

"_Hello." the distinctive voice said answering the ring on the other end._

"_Are you busy? Can I come over?" Haley asked, her voice strangled by emotion. _

"_What's wrong Hales? Of course, you can come over? I'll leave the door unlocked."_

_The call ended and Haley tore out of the parking lot, like the hounds of hell were chasing her, arriving at Brooke's minutes later._

"_Brooke!" she called as she pushed open the door._

"_Hey Hales! What's up?" Brooke asked appearing at the top of the stairs._

_She looked up toward her friend and started to cry before she could utter a single word._

_Brooke rushed down the stairs and wrapped her arms around her auburn haired friend. "My goodness, what's wrong? What happened to your face?"_

"_Peyton and I had a disagreement," she laughed bitterly at the understatement of her words. "She slapped my face, fired me and threw me out of her office."_

"_She did what?"_

_Haley took a deep breath and began to tell Brooke what had transpired between herself and the very irate blonde. _

_She was led toward the kitchen where Brooke poured them each a cup of coffee, taking the seat beside her and patting the back of her hand, listening to her tale with little comment and few questions. When she was through, Haley looked to Brooke for her support in actions and reactions to Peyton. _

"_I was right to confront Peyton. She should have told me she came back for Lucas. As his best friend, I should be angry that she kissed him when he's engaged to Lindsey. I was right, wasn't I, Brooke?"_

"_You know, Hales, you're one of my best friends and I love you. You know that right?"_

_Haley nodded her head in acknowledgement._

"_Your going to be really pissed at me, when I say this but no, you were completely and totally wrong. Its none of your business and you should have stayed out of it."_

"_What?" Haley asked in a voice just above a whisper. She was sure that Brooke would side with her. Brooke liked Lindsey. She'd even told her so. Why didn't she agree that Peyton was a liar and a cheater?_

"_I know that Lucas is your best friend and you feel that no matter what his actions you need to side with and protect him in everything but believe it or not, Lucas can be wrong sometimes too. In fact, he is almost always wrong when it comes to his relationships with women. He was wrong when he dated me in high school and he's wrong planning to marry Lindsey now because you and I both know Lucas has been and always will be in love with Peyton. If you step back, taking a look at the situation with your heart, you'll see that I'm right."_

"_Peyton said no, Brooke, Lindsey said yes."_

"_That son of a bitch! I should have known!" she shrieked looking up at the ceiling. "He told you Peyton said no?" Brooke shook her head and laughed incredulously._

"_What do you mean, he told me she said no. She did. Luke said he went to L.A and proposed and she said no. He even told me he gave her a year to get as much as she could, knowledge wise, from Sire Records. He called her to come to the book signing, which she agreed to go to, and then never showed up with no call to let him no she wasn't coming or any type of explanation. Do you think he should have just sat around and pining away for Peyton? He was crushed when he came back after the tour. You weren't here, you didn't see the hell he went through because of her," Haley wiped the tears that were streaming down her face, "You only think what happened tonight is okay because Luke chose Lindsey over your best friend," she said shakily._

"_First of all, Haley, I couldn't give a rats ass who Lucas marries. I care about the fact that Peyton's heart has been shattered and that because of his lies to you; you've been treating her like crap because of it."_

"_Lucas wouldn't lie to me, Brooke." Haley said flatly._

"_But Peyton would lie to me?"_

"_She lied to you about her relationship with Luke junior year."_

"_Yeah well, Luke lied to you about that too!" she snapped at the other girl becoming tired of her attitude. "Let me tell you a thing or two about what really happened in California. Just like he told you, he did propose to Peyton."_

"_Hmm…" Haley began and stopped at the look on Brooke's face._

"_That's where the truth ends. Peyton didn't say no. She told him she loved him and wanted to marry him someday. They were nineteen and living a country apart. Lucas was in North Carolina going to university and coaching Nate's team and she was in California learning about the music business. Luke wanted her to give up her dreams and come back to live with him right then and there. Peyton asked him for a year. She needed to prove to herself that she could make it on her own. And what did she get from him. He waited until she fell asleep, and he walked away without a word, leaving her alone. No note. No explanation."_

"_Is that Peyton's version of events because if sounds like a bunch of crap to me," the other girl scoffed._

"_Actually no. It was Lucas that told me. You forget I met up with Luke in New York the night after they broke up. I was the first one to know that they'd broken up. I was the one that convinced him to give Peyton the year."_

"_Well, he did give her a year like you suggested. She never showed up."_

"_Have you ever ask Peyton why she didn't go to his book signing? You've never asked her because you didn't care what her reasoning was. Lucas was hurt and you couldn't get passed it. First she'd turned down his proposal and then she never bothered to show up like she said she would, so it was her fault. Boohoo, poor Lucas," she said facetiously. "The truth is Hales, she was there. She was running late. She ended up at the back of the line because she didn't feel right about shoving her way to the front of the line, just because she was Peyton Sawyer so she got behind the people who had been waiting to see him. She was so excited. She stood out in the heat for hours to see him. There was a huge window at the front of the book store where she was finally able to see him. The first look she'd had of him in a year and he was sitting at the table, she felt as if her life had meaning again. She'd missed him more than she had allowed herself to believe. She kept peeking in the window, until she got a nasty glare from a woman that was standing beside him. At first she thought she was imagining it, being oversensitive and all but when she finally reached the front of the line, the woman was kissing him. Her heart broke and she ran out of the store in tears. He'd moved on and she couldn't handle it." Brooke took a sip of her coffee, "Think about it, Hales, when you came home from your music tour in high school, if you had found another woman kissing Nathan, what would you have thought and done at that point? You'd have believed he moved on too, just like Peyton did."_

_Haley shook her head trying to deny what Brooke had told her, "He…"_

_Brooke interrupted her again, she wasn't finished yet, "A couple of days later, I got a call asking me to come to California because Peyton needed me. She was in the hospital after a complete melt down."_

"_Why would he have lied to me like that? I'm his best friend." she said flatly. She went quiet for a few minutes pondering everything Brooke had told her. There must be some other explanation. The time went slowly and the brunette watched for the ah ha moment when Haley would realize the why of Lucas' actions. When it finally came, Haley yelled with a vengeance. "He was afraid I'd be pissed at him for leaving her in that hotel room alone, knowing what Peyton's issues are!" People always leave. It had been Peyton's mantra for as long as Haley had known the blonde. "He was afraid that I'd side with her and tell him it was his own damn fault he wasn't with her!"_

_Brooke nodded, "You got it! Now I know this has been a rough night for you and that your feeling pretty rotten about the way you've treated P Sawyer since she got back to town but I'd just kind of leave her alone, you know. I certainly wouldn't try to approach her for awhile."_

"_What does that mean for our friendship? I won't be able to come over here anymore or bring Jamie."_

"_Peyton is my best friend and I haven't been there for her the way I should have been through all this. I plan to rectify that oversight."_

"_What are you going to do?" she asked timidly._

"_Its really better if you don't know."_

"_Oh. Okay but what am I supposed to do now?"_

"_To be honest Haley, I can't say for sure but I'll tell you how I see it. You chose your side already. Peyton doesn't want you to switch horses mid stream, you need to continue doing what you've been doing since she got back here, support Lucas. He's your best friend and she would expect no less. _

_Peyton is hurting, Hales. She's broken in a way that I'm not sure even I can help put the pieces back together again. Try to back off with the nastiness and give me a fighting chance, will you?"_

"_Sure Brooke. Thank you for telling me all this."_

"_I thought I was staying neutral in all this but I know now that I'm as guilty as you are. I've made some mistakes along the way. Remember this talk in the days and weeks to come and be fair now that you have all the information." she sighed, "Like Lucas is for you, Peyton is my best friend and its time I took my head out of my ass and started acting like it. I should have been protecting and supporting her from incidents like what happened tonight. We're friends and losing that really sucks but I hope that when everything is said and done, we'll be able to put it all behind us and find our way back to being friends again."_

"_Are you saying we're not friends anymore either?"_

"_What I'm saying is that, I've chosen sides now too. Peyton. The two of you have had a parting of ways. I need to be there for my friend and you need to be there for yours. Having said that, no we are no longer friends either."_

"_Is this really necessary?"_

"_Yeah I'm afraid it is. You accepted Luke's word without even considering Peyton's side of things. I've stood aside and watched you be mean, rude, and down right nasty to Peyt for no reason. You have gone out of your way to make her as uncomfortable in places that she has more right to be than you do. She has been gracious and kind to you in spite of it all. And more than anything else, Peyton was your friend first but you chose Lindsey."_

_Putting her arm around the girl she led her toward the front door, opening it so she could leave, "The three of you need to be very careful how things proceed from here. The gloves are off now and Peyton is no longer fighting alone. I can be a formidable enemy and if things continue along their current vein things are going to get really ugly around here." A single tear ran down the dark haired woman's face, "I'm really going to miss you Hales. Nate and Jamie too."_

"_We'll miss you too." she walked away not turning back to look at her friend. She got in her truck and drove away._

"_Goodbye." Brooke whispered as she closed the door after watching the lights disappear around the next corner. Grabbing the house phone as she passed through the kitchen, she dialed the all too familiar number. _


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and story alerts… Here's chapter 3 hope you enjoy it. R&R… Chapter 4 up too.

Disclaimer: Still don't own OTH, not MS, CW, cast or crew

Chapter 3 Correcting Her Biggest Mistake

Brooke held the phone to her ear, listening to it ring on the other end. She couldn't believe how calm she felt considering she had just ended her friendship with Haley but she actually felt better than she had in months. She'd made some tough choices tonight but as it turned out this one hadn't been tough at all. She was going to correct her biggest mistake and it felt really, really good.

"_Hello." _

"May I speak with Lindsey Strauss, please," she asked coolly.

"_Uhm, sure." _Lucas said bewildered by his former girlfriend's tone.

Brooke could hear him calling her to the phone. She couldn't stop the wicked grin that appeared on her face.

"_Hi Brooke," _Lindsey said cheerfully, _"have you got my appointment set up to design my dress?"_

"Ms Strauss. Brooke Davis." Brooke said as professionally as possible, "I called to inform you that I am unable to design your dress. It's not business it's personal." Brooke knew that although Lindsey wouldn't that statement, if repeated to him, Lucas would and that was all that mattered.

"_Why not? I don't understand."_

"I should never have agreed to make the thing in the first place. It was wrong of me. Good luck with your wedding," she disconnected the call not allowing her to respond further.

Now that she had fixed her stupidity, Brooke got ready to go to Red Bedroom Records to beg her best friend for forgiveness. Agreeing to make Lindsey's dress in the first place was mean and thoughtless. She wouldn't blame the blonde if she wanted to torture her for it. If the shoe was on the other foot, Brooke would never forgive her in a million years so she was prepared for that eventuality.

"Hey Buddy," Brooke said peeking her head around the door as she walked in to Peyton's office.

Peyton placed her pencil on the desk and looked up, "Talked to Haley did you?" she raised her eyebrows not really waiting for an answer. "Well if you're here to yell at me, don't bother because I don't care," she said flatly.

"I did talk to Haley but I'm certainly not here to yell at you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"The only thing I want to say about the whole thing is I am not sorry for a single word or action and if you can't deal with it, I'll start packing in the morning."

"Hold on now. I didn't say anything yet and you're already making plans to move out?"

"Considering the way things have been since I came back here, I just assumed you'd…"

Brooke held up her hand to stop Peyton's last statement. "I know I've done a couple of really, really stupid things since we got back here and I'm truly sorry all of it. Just let me say this, I back you one hundred percent in regard to what happened tonight. It's been a long time coming. I'm proud of you."

"Really Brooke?"

"Yeah, 'P'. I'm sorry I've been such an ass but let me tell you what I've done to try and fix things tonight okay." She launched into a dramatic tale of what had occurred earlier in the evening and ended with the call to Lindsey advising her she wouldn't be designing or making the dress.

"B Davis, have you lost your mind? I'm pretty sure; I'm going to be friendless by the end of this. Are you sure you want to board a boat with a hole in the keel?"

"You're my best friend, P Sawyer. We're in this together. We always should have been," she lowered her eyes, the shame almost too much to bear.

Peyton got up from her seat and pulled her dark haired friend into a hug, "Thank you 'B', I really appreciate this and I am so lucky to have you for my best friend."

"Actually 'P' it's me who needs to say thank you. I agreed to make a wedding dress for the woman who is marrying he who shall not be named and you still want to be friends with me. I'm not sure it would be like this if the shoe was on the other foot."

The blonde smiled at her, "I was upset about it, I have to admit but now the bitch will have to buy a dress off the rack." she smiled wickedly.

Brooke smiled back, "So what's our plan of attack?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 An Unhappy Luke

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Brooke opened one eye and looked at the clock on her bedside table. _'Somebody better be dead or dying to be getting me up at seven in the morning.' _she said to herself. Anyone that knew her was well aware that waking the fashion mogul before she was ready was taking their life in their hands. She sat up and put her legs over the side of the bed, sliding on her slippers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Open the door, Brooke!"

She smiled devilishly at the familiar tenor of the voice. That explained it. Lucas Scott had a death wish. Picking a fight with her this early in the morning was probably not going to be the smartest choice he'd make today. She put on her housecoat and stopped outside Peyton's door, after a quick knock. putting her head into the room. The blonde was putting on her housecoat prepared to answer the door herself. Brooke shook her head, "This is between him and me, 'P'. You stay out of it."

"We're in this together B, remember?"

Brooke sighed, "Fine, you stay where he can see you but you let me do all the talking. Got it?"

Peyton nodded in agreement.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"I know you're in there Brooke, open the damn door!"

She winked at the woman leaning against the door jam to her room, "Oh my goodness," she said in mock shock, putting a hand on each of her cheeks, "I think someone's at the door," she giggled as she headed for the door.

Peyton watched as her best friend sauntered toward the door, quickly checking the mirror to make sure she didn't look like she'd just crawled out of bed before opening it. "Lucas Scott is about to find out what its like to be treated like crap and have your friends turn their backs on you," she smirked, pulling open the door.

"Yes. May I help you?"

"What the hell, I've been banging on this door for five minutes. What took you so long?"

Brooke stepped into the doorway to bar the blonde man's entrance to her house. "Do I know you?"

Peyton had to stifle a laugh. Brooke looked at Lucas like she'd never seen him before.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on, Brooke?"

"First of all buster, only my friends call me Brooke and seeing as I don't know you, your not on that list. Strangers, such as you," she pointed at his chest, "call me Ms Davis. Second, as a stranger, if you need to speak with me, my boutique is on Main Street. If you call my assistant Millicent, she will set up an appointment for you. I'm sure I have an opening sometime in November 2055." Brooke snapped, "Business hours are 9 to 5, you can contact her then." she started to close the door in his face.

Peyton looked on in awe at her friend's performance. She had no idea that the dark haired woman still had it in her. Brooke had found the B Davis she was at the beginning of high school and turned her loose. It was an amazing thing to watch.

Putting up his hand, Lucas stopped the door from closing. "Why are you being like this?" he implored, "I thought we were friends."

"You know, now that you mention it, you do look kind of familiar. You remind me of a guy I once considered to be amongst my best friends. In fact, as far as looks go, you're a dead ringer for him. But, you see, my friend would never have sat back and watched his best friend and his fiancée as they mistreated the woman he professed that he would love forever. My friend was always saving her. And YOU, mister, are not that man!"

Lucas shot Peyton a look of sadness and regret.

"The man that I called my friend would never have been as cruel to Peyton, of all people on earth, as you have since she returned to Tree Hill. And since you are responsible for all these malicious things, you are definitely not the man that I considered my friend."

He looked at the ground and back at Peyton, shocked that she had done nothing to stand up for him, defending him from her best friend's onslaught. When he looked back at the brunette that blocked his way into the house, tears and shame showed in his eyes, "I.." he couldn't continue.

Brooke had crossed her arms in front of her and wore a look of total disgust on her face, "Yeah that's exactly what I thought." She shook her head in disgust and closed the door. This time he made no move to prevent it and when the door closed completely her heard the dead bolt snap home.

Peyton came out from the entrance to her room, where she had watched the show and met Brooke in the kitchen. She began clapping her hands, "I am standing in the presence of greatness, my friend. That was a hell of a performance, Davis, B P."

"I always knew I should have been an actress," she smirked, "maybe that will give him something to think about for a while, the jackass.

The two looked at each other and broke into hysterical laughter. "I'll bet he wasn't expecting that when he showed up here this morning."

"I can definitely guarantee he wasn't." Peyton replied.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Own nothing, building castles in the sand using Mark Schwahn's toys.**

**A/N: So this is a huge UD. It's somewhat AU as Lucas knows nothing about Peyton being at the signing in L.A. she never told him. R&R and let me know what you think. **

**Chapter 5 Incase You Didn't Know**

'**What is going on in this crazy town?' Luke thought to himself. Someone has got to have the answers to Brooke's accusations. He hit his steering wheel over and over trying to release some of his anger and frustration. He placed his hand against his forehead trying to decide what to do from here. 'Do I go home and break the news to Lindsey about her dress or do I go to Nate and Haley's and find out why the usual bubbly brunette was so pissed off at him and Lindsey?' No contest.**

**Luke pulled up in front of his brother's house. It was early, maybe to early to be dropping into his brother's unannounced but he needed answers and he couldn't wait until later. **

"**Hales!" he called as we entered the large home.**

"**Shhh!" Nate said suddenly appearing out of the kitchen, "She's asleep."**

"**Sorry," he whispered following his brother into the other room. "You look like crap!"**

**Nate grimaced, "That's what happens when you've been up all night trying to calm your frantic, furious and heartbroken wife."**

"**What?" Lucas asked amazed at brother's description of his best friend, "Why didn't she call me?"**

**Nathan rolled his eyes, "She does have a husband, you know?"**

"**I know but usually you're the cause of crazy Haley."**

"**Very funny," he replied. "This time its Peyton and Brooke."**

"**Peyton and Brooke?" Lucas asked surprised again by his brother's words.**

"**Yep. Started with a slap across the face from Peyton, to a verbal smack down an on to the ending of their friendship," Nate shook his head, "she went to Brooke for support and understanding, she didn't get it. She backed up Peyton and ended her friendship with Hales too."**

"**I…I…I don't understand," Luke stated flatly. "They've been friends since our junior year of high school, how could they just stop being friends with her?"**

"**Oh I don't know Luke," Nate snapped. "Let me think about that stupid question. Oh I know the answer to that just like every other adult in Tree Hill except for my stupid ass brother apparently." He glared at his older brother fury in his eyes, "My wife and your fiancée have been torturing your curly haired ex-girlfriend since she got here and you've done nothing to stop it."**

"**Excuse me?"**

"**That's right Luke. Haley and Lindsey have been making Peyton's life a living hell since she got off that plane from California and Peyton finally had enough. She slapped Haley because of another verbal assault launched on her over you!"**

"**Over me? What the hell did I do?"**

"**You did not just ask me that?"**

"**I have no idea what you're talking about Nate? Why would Haley yell at Peyton because of me?"**

"**The night you proposed to Lindsey, what were you doing in Peyton's office?"**

"**Oh."**

"**Yeah."**

**Lucas just stood there unable to say anything to his angry sibling. "Peyton shouldn't have hit her, Nate. I'll talk to her."**

"**You think I'm mad at Peyton," he laughed bitterly. "You couldn't be more wrong, you jackass. I'm grateful that Peyton didn't do more than slap her. In her position I sure as hell would have! I mean, Haley basically called Peyton a whore what the hell should she have done, said thank you and smiled like she's been doing for months at their insults and abuse." "**

"**You're not angry at Peyton?"**

"**Why would I be mad at Peyton? She's my best friend and I really wish she'd come and talked to me before hitting my wife but I also understand why she did it. I've seen the hell Lindsey and Haley have put her through. I've been impressed, quite honestly, at how much restraint Peyton has shown."**

**Lucas felt himself becoming angry with his brother and his cavalier attitude, "Peyton assaults your wife and you're happy about it."**

"**I'm not happy about it, you moron but I'm not going to be angry at Peyton for standing up for herself either. I'll talk to Peyton about it but I certainly am not going to make her life any worse by freaking out on her about it. She has enough to deal with where you three idiots are concerned."**

"**Fine!" he shouted in frustration, "Tell me what's been going on because apparently I've been wandering around with my head up my ass. I haven't noticed any ill treatment toward Peyton by either Hales or Lindsey. I've heard that Peyton has said some really nasty things to Lindsey since she got back here."**

**Nathan looked at his older brother in disgust, "So Peyton said she hated her. Ahhh. Poor Lindsey."**

**Lucas gritted his teeth, "Tell. Me. What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On."**

"**Are you sure you want to know Luke? Are you going to listen to what I tell you or are you just going to blame it all on Peyton again, no matter what I say?"**

"**I'll try to keep an open mind Nate, I promise."**

**After a few minutes of complete silence, Nathan began to speak. He told his brother about the abuse that Peyton had received at the hands of the other two women. It took a long time to tell him what he'd seen and the conversations he'd heard between Haley and Lindsey. How they plotted and schemed to rub Lucas' choice of Lindsey in her face. How they could make the blonde as uncomfortable as possible in hopes of driving her out of Tree Hill. "Anything to cause her pain, Lucas. Do you understand that? Do you know how bad I've wanted to step up and protect her, she's my best friend?"**

"**Why didn't you?"**

"**I don't know. I guess I kept waiting for you to save her. It's always been your job and I thought you'd finally remember that you loved her."**

"**You should have come to me."**

"**It wouldn't have made any difference if I'd come to you, Luke, and you know it. You've been a prick to her too. You've made it more than clear at this point that you don't care about her anymore."**

**Lucas felt the heat rise in his face, "I do care, Nate, I just…"**

"**Don't try to defend your actions or attempt to apologize big brother; it'll just make me angrier than I already am."**

"**Is there more?"**

**Nate nodded sadly, "Just what happened last night with both Peyton and Brooke." He went into a detailed account of what led up to the slap and the ending of the long time friendship of his wife and best friend. "I'm in a really difficult position here Lucas. You're my brother, Haley is my wife, Peyton is my best friend and you've chosen Lindsey."**

"**Tell me about Brooke," he said ignoring the fact that his brother hadn't said that Lindsey was his future sister in law. He described the others as his but Lucas had chosen Lindsey.**

"**Haley went to Brooke's thinking that Brooke would back her up for jumping on Peyton about that kiss. She definitely didn't get what she was expecting. Brooke has made some mistakes where Peyton is concerned too but she's apparently going to correct them and beg for forgiveness. She ended her relationship with Haley too because she wants Peyton to know she doesn't have divided loyalty. Davis is in Sawyer's corner now and the gloves have come off, they're a team and not one I'd relish going up against." Nathan shuddered at the memory of the two in the early parts of high school. **

**A short time later Lucas left his brother's house with more information than his tired brain could process. Lindsey and Haley had been cruel and malicious in their dealings with Peyton. He was truly horrified by the very idea but he needed time to sort it all out before he talked to anyone else. He turned the music up loud and drove.**

**He stopped only for gas and to make a single phone call to Lindsey, "I'm going out of town. I'm not exactly sure when I'll be back. Do not call me, I need some time."**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Surprise Visitors and Mending Fences

A couple of weeks passed and Brooke decided that it was time to mend some fences. She loved Peyton but this division in the troops was getting old. The blonde had no run ins with the others so maybe her speech to Haley had made a difference. Whatever the answer had been she was happy they'd finally backed off but she missed her friends and if they were ever going to fix things between them it had to be now.

Brooke picked up the phone and called Nathan. He had not been a part of the throw down and both she and Peyton stayed in verbal communication with him and occasionally met up for lunch at the river court or a local restaurant.

She called Nathan's cell to prevent any awkwardness that may occur with Haley.

"Hey Davis," Nathan said when he picked up the line.

"Hey buddy," she replied bubbling like her old self.

"What's up?"

"Well, I was thinking you should come to the house for dinner tonight. Bring Haley."

"Bring Haley?" he asked in surprise. "Does Sawyer know about this?"

"Uhm no but…"

"Don't you think you should talk to her first?"

"No I don't. I'm tired of all this silence Nathan. Its not part of who I am. I need social stuff, parties and all that. Whatever the hell it is is making me crazy. So say you'll come and bring Hales. Maybe we can force them to make up or talk at the very least."

The line was very quiet for a few minutes, the only sound Nathan's quiet breathing.

"Nate?"

"You know what Brooke, your right. Haley and Peyton can't do this to us. We all need each other so they need to make up. We'll be there. What time?"

"Say around 7ish."

"We'll see you then. Thanks Brooke."

"Later Nate."

Peyton sat at her desk, checking emails and drinking a cup of coffee. She was frustrated by the replies she was getting from the venues that wanted Mia to play. "Idiots!" she said to the empty room. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes allowing her head to fall back. The sound of the loud banging on Tric's door brought her out of her fog. Getting out of her seat, she approached the door timidly, who could possibly be coming to a bar at the break of dawn. She looked out the large window beside the door and a huge smile broke across her face. She opened the door and threw her arms around the man standing on the threshold.

"Julian Baker!" she squealed in delight, "What are you doing here? How did you know I was here?"

"Peyton Sawyer, I've missed you," he said pulling her into a hug. "I came to see you actually, and I knew you were here the moment I saw that," he pointed outside to where Peyton's vintage Comet sat.

She looked at him in confusion, "To see me?"

He nodded, "I read the book."

"Is that so?" she said walking toward her office and motioning for him to follow her.

"Yeah, that's why I came to see you."

She sat behind her desk and gestured to the one across from her, "Have a seat. So you want to talk about the book?" she said hitching an eyebrow.

"I don't mean it like that Peyton," he blushed, "we've been over as far as that goes for ages but we did stay friends remember?"

Peyton nodded, "Okay so what about the book then?"

"I want to make it into a movie."

"Really?" she smiled brightly, "Luke will be so excited by the idea of seeing his book come to life."

"Do you think you could talk to him about it for me?"

Peyton shook her head, "No. You'd have to talk agent or to his editor slash fiancée about that, Jules."

"You're not together?" he asked confused by this revelation.

"Nope," she said flatly popping the p.

"Jackass!" he mumbled.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay so…"

"I can get you the number for his agent if you like."

"That would be perfect."

That sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes and then Peyton brightened up again. "So I share a house with Brooke Davis," she said winking at him.

Julian blushed a deep red, "You need to move past that whole hook up thing, Peyt."

"But your perfect for each other, Jules," she said in a simpering voice. "At least come and have dinner with us so you can meet her. Come on it'll be fun."

"Alright, I'll come to dinner and meet your Brooke Davis. Happy?"

She winked, "No but it helps. Just let me get you that number." She made a couple of calls and then handed him the paper with John's number on it. "I hope this'll help Jules."

"I'm sure it will but it won't help me get to dinner tonight."

Peyton looked at him and then blushed realizing he'd never been to the house. She quickly wrote the house and her cell number on a piece of paper and handed them to him, "I'm an idiot. Here."

Julian stood, "I need to get settled into the hotel so I'll see you tonight," he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Peyton rose to walk him to the outside door, "I'll see you tonight," she told him as she pulled the door closed.

The day had gone by in a blur. She'd called Brooke and told her she was bringing a friend home for dinner and as always she rose to the occasion telling her not to worry everything would be ready when it was time. When at last it was time to go home, she closed her laptop and locked up the office. "Goodnight Chase!" she called to the bartender as she left the building.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Dinner with Friends

Lucas had spent the past three weeks wandering around Miami trying to wrap his head around what was going on in Tree Hill. His cell phone had finally stopped blowing up after the first three days. He'd gotten calls from Lindsey, Nathan, Haley and his Mom. He'd had to call his provider and had them remove the voicemail feature from his plan so the phone would stop beeping at him all the time. He wasn't ready to talk to them yet.

Back in Tree Hill, Peyton was just arriving home from work, "Brooke!" she called entering the house.

"In here!" she called back.

Peyton knew she was in the kitchen and went through to make sure everything was ready. She couldn't help but laugh when she entered the room.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she watched Brooke transferring food from containers to dishes.

"Do you want to serve it in the take out boxes," she giggled replying to Peyton's question.

"No," she smirked.

"Do you want to be able to eat tonight?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I have Chez Jacques on speed dial."

"What times your company coming," Brooke asked curiously.

"He said he'd be here for 7ish. He's not one for definites," she winked at the brunette.

"He. Wait. Who is it?" she asked as the blonde left the room.

"You'll have to wait and see."

Brooke stood watching as the other girl disappeared from view, 'He?' she said to herself, 'Who the heck is he?' Just as she started going through her head with possibilities there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it." She pulled open the door and squealed.

"Nathan! Thank you for coming," she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "Hi Hales," she said quietly, "Come on in."

"Thanks for having us, Brooke."

"I've missed you, Nate. You too," she said reaching out and squeezing Haley's arm lightly.

Peyton came out from her room, dressed more casually than she had been for work, her usual jeans and rock band t-shirt. "Nathan!" she said delightedly.

Brooke looked at her friend before she was able to say anything else. "I invited Nathan and Haley to dinner tonight. Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad, Brooke. Hey Hales. Nice to see you."

"You too," she replied quietly.

"Come on in and sit down," Brooke suggested to the pair. "We're just waiting for Peyton's guest to show up and then we'll eat."

There was a quiet knock at the door, "Speak of the devil," Peyton said as she dashed for the door and throwing it open, "Did you have any trouble finding the place?"

"Ah no," the man replied laughing, "I gave the address to the taxi driver and he brought me straight here," replied a voice the others didn't recognize.

Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, "Yeah, I never thought of that. Well get in here," she said pulling him into the house. "Turns out we're having a dinner party. Brooke invited some a couple of friends over too."

They came into the living room where the others waited. Peyton taking Julian's hand introduced him to Nathan and Haley.

"Nathan and Haley Scott," she gestured to the couple, "Julian Baker."

Julian shook hands with the pair, "Nice to meet you. I've read all about you."

"You've read my brother's book?"

Julian nodded, "Yeah it's actually what brought me to Tree Hill."

Brooke came into the room just then interrupting the conversation, "Dinner is on the table if you'd like to join me in the dining room. Oh, hello," she said holding her hand out to Julian."

"Brooke Davis," he said taking her hand in his. "Your billboards don't do you justice."

"Julian Baker, I'd have known you anywhere from Peyton's description."

Brooke felt her heart race as Julian's hand held hers. It was a feeling she'd never felt before and made a mental note to ask Peyton about if later.

When everyone was seated, Brooke started passing around the food.

"You didn't make this did you?" Haley asked putting potatoes on her plate.

Brooke laughed heartily, "Hell no. Chef Peter made at Chez Jacques."

"I take it you aren't handy in the kitchen," Julian said looking at Brooke.

"That's an understatement," Nathan said quietly.

"Hey!" Brooke shouted at him, "Be nice." She turned to Julian, "To be honest, if I'd have made this, we wouldn't be able to eat it. I can't even boil water on the stove. I can make an awesome cup of coffee, though. Karen taught me."

"Well good for you," Julian said winking at her teasingly.

"Where are you from?" Haley asked Julian.

"Los Angeles," Julian replied.

"So what brings you to Tree Hill, Julian?" Nathan asked.

"Your brother's book actually," Julian replied honestly.

"His book?"

"Julian's a producer, Nate. He wants to turn Ravens into a movie," Peyton told him.

"Really? Luke will love that," Nate said, "if he ever turns up again?" he shot a questioning look at his wife.

"His agent said he was out of town at the moment. I just hope I get the opportunity to talk to him before I have to leave town."

"You spoke to his agent? Did he mention when Lucas was supposed to be back." Haley asked.

"I talked to his agent this morning after I saw Peyton at Tric and he wasn't sure how long he was going to be gone. He said he'd advise him that I was in town and my interest in optioning it."

Conversations turned to the book and memories that Lucas had not known about or chose not to put into the book and tensions in the room eased as they reminisced. The more they chatted and shared information with him, the more Julian like this group of friends.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Peyton's Obsession

They moved into the living room when dinner was finished, the conversation turning to Julian and Peyton. She sat on the arm of the sofa, putting her arm around him and he placed his hand on her leg.

"How did you two meet?" Haley asked.

"First time I met her she was crying and beating the crap out of a copy machine," he laughed.

"It was the day after Lucas and I broke up," she said sheepishly explaining the odd behavior.

"I hit on her, she shut me down in a hurry, I'll tell you that," he winked at the blonde beside him.

"The next time I saw her she was…"

Peyton shook her head letting Julian know she didn't want the information shared.

Brooke quickly changed the subject realizing Peyton was getting uncomfortable with it. "So, Julian what made you choose Ravens to make it into a movie?"

"Peyton actually. She was reading it all the time. She was so obsessed with it that after we broke up, I finally read the thing and it's good. It's really good."

"You were obsessed with Luke's book?" Nathan asked.

"Peyton blushed, "A little."

"A little?" Julian laughed, "when we broke up she must have had 25 copies of the thing," he teased, "she carried one in her purse half the time that was so well read the and dog eared it started losing words from its pages."

"Is that all she had then because she must have had 50 by the time she moved in here," she winked at her best friend. "Wait, it would be like 47 now because we burned three of them the night Luke…" she didn't finish the sentence seeing the hurt in Peyton's eyes.

"Its more like 86, I've bought a few since then," she admitted shyly.

"86 copies. Sawyer are you crazy. I can get you some professional help with that, if you want," Nathan teased.

Peyton stuck her tongue out at him, "Bite me!"

Haley turned and looked at Peyton, "Why? Why would you buy so many copies of Luke's book?"

"I missed him, Hales. I buy the book because it makes me feel closer to him some how," she looked over at her, tears running down her face, "I still do." She squeezed Julian's hand that rested on her legs and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Its okay Peyt, it was a long time ago."

Brooke seeing Peyton's distress changed the subject again to more cheerful things. Making sure that the darkest of the shadows were removed from Peyton's eyes. She convinced the two to regal the others with stories of them in L.A, their travel and relationship together.

"I count Peyton among my closest friends now," Julian pushed her from the side, "She thinks that Brooke and I are made for each other," he teased the blonde and winked at the brunette.

"You're trying to fix your ex up with your best friend?" Haley asked amazed at Peyton's big-heartedness. "It wouldn't bother you?"

Peyton shook her head, "I think Julian is Brooke's epic love story," she said plainly. "They're ready ordered for each other. Anyone care to bet me on it?"

She looked at the others, and no one took her up on it. "He's already looking at her like Nate looks like Haley," she teased her friends.

When conversation started to lull, Nathan and Haley got ready to leave.

"This was great," Nathan told the others. "I've really missed this sort of thing."

"Me too," Haley admitted. "I'm really sorry about everything Peyton. I should have talked to you. I wish I could take it all back."

"We'll be okay eventually, Hales. Just give it some time okay," she pulled the woman in for a hug.

Nathan hugged his friends and shook Julian's hand, "It's been nice meeting you, Julian. I hope we get to do this again."

"Me too, Nathan. Haley," he said winking at Brooke.

"I think I can pretty much guarantee it," Brooke's cheeks turning a deep pink with her admission.

They stood and waved to the couple until the car was out of sight. Peyton turned to Julian, "I'm sorry about all the talk about me and Luke. That was really unfair of me."

"It's okay Peyton, really."

"Thanks," she whispered heading back to the couch, the other two following. "How long are you into town?"

"For a couple of days, unless I can meet up with Lucas. If not I'll have to go back to L.A. and then come back if he wasn't to consider the option. Its getting kind of late, I should…" he was interrupted by Brooke.

"Why don't you stay and visit with me…us?" she changed quickly.

"I'd love that," he replied, his eyes never leaving Brooke's face.

"I don't say I never told you so," she whispered to Julian as she got up off the couch. "I think with that I'll go to bed. Goodnight."

She smiled as she looked at her friends; already so far lost in each other they didn't notice her leave the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Coming Home to New Information

A few days later, Haley heard Lucas call her name from the front of the house.

"Hales," he called loudly.

"Where the hell have you been?" she snapped coming out of the kitchen. "I've been worried sick."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that Hales. I just needed some time you know. I needed to sort through all the information Nathan gave me. It was really overwhelming."

Haley nodded in understanding, "Yeah, about that, uhm I'm really sorry about the way I was treating Peyton."

"It's not me you have to apologize to Hales. It's Peyton."

"I've already done that and although we're not one hundred percent yet. I think we'll get there."

Lucas brought his friend into his embrace, "I haven't talked to Lindsey yet," he deadpanned.

"She was really upset when I talked to her after you disappeared."

He hung his head, "I probably haven't handled the whole situation very well."

"Its okay, Luke, everyone makes mistakes."

"Why is it that every time I make a mistake, Peyton is the one that gets hurt?"

"I'm not answering that, Luke," she replied pulling out of his embrace and going to pour them each a cup of coffee.

"Hey Luke, what are you doing here?" Nate said coming into the room, bumping fists with his brother.

"I just got back and thought I'd stop in."

Nathan nodded, "Afraid to go home?"

"No it's not like that; I just thought I should talk to Haley before I go talk to Lindsey."

"I can understand that," he poured himself a cup of coffee and joined the others.

"I feel that I'm missing part of the story, you guys. Like there's some huge piece of information missing from what I know about what's been going on. I want to know why you thought it was okay to be so cruel to Peyton." Lucas asked looking at his friend.

"I was pissed off because of her turning down your proposal and then not turning up at the book signing and hurting you so badly."

"Hales…" Lucas began.

"Stop. Stop!" Nathan shouted. "I've had it. There is something both of you don't know and I'm tired of carrying this around. I just hope to god Peyton can forgive me for telling either of you." He took a deep breath and looked directly into Haley's eyes, "You are going to be pissed at me over this and that's okay."

"Okay," she said, "what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything exactly. I didn't lie but I didn't tell you the whole truth either." He stood and started pacing the room. "This shouldn't be coming from me and I'm not putting in all the lovey dovey crap because I'm not a girl. I've give you the facts, that's all I can do okay."

The two nodded there heads.

"Don't interrupt, because my friendship with Peyton is really important to me and when she finds out I've told you about all this she's never going to forgive me."

"Just tell us Nate."

"There's part of this that you already know, Hales but there's a part of it that Brooke didn't tell you. Our involvement after the fact."

"Are you talking about the book signing?" Haley asked her husband.

"Yeah."

"What about the book signing," Luke snapped. His nerves still raw from the last time he was at his brother's.

"Peyton was there."

"No she wasn't," he snapped again.

"Yeah she was, Luke. Cliff notes man version, she stood in line for hours waiting to see you. When she finally got to the front of the line Lindsey was kissing you. She freaked. She was crushed, her heart shattered. She assumed you invited her so you could rub Lindsey in her face, just like you did with Brooke in high school. She didn't want you to see how devastated she was so she high tailed it out of there."

"I wasn't with Lindsey then, Nate. I invited her because I wanted to get back with her. I wanted to work things out. I would never have done that to her," he said in response.

"You never would have walked out and left her in a hotel room with no explanation either," Haley added knowingly.

"Brooke told you." he said flatly looking at his best friend.

She nodded. "You're a jackass, Lucas."

"Let me ask you this, Luke. Had Lindsey ever asked you out before the signing in L.A?"

Lucas smiled at the Lindsey's persistence during that time, "Yeah, after every signing. I always turned her down explaining that I intended to get back with Peyton."

"Did Lindsey know Peyton was supposed to come to the signing in Los Angeles?"

"Yeah, are you kidding? Everyone knew. I never shut up about it after I talked to Peyton," he admitted.

"Had she ever seen a picture of Peyton?"

Haley looked at her husband in amazement, his deductive reasoning staggering.

"Sure but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Had she ever kissed you before?"

Lucas shook his head in denial, "Nope L.A was the first time."

Nathan didn't say any thing else. He stood watching and waiting as his words sunk into his brother's head.

"You think she did it on purpose?" he said after a few minutes. "You think she wanted Peyton to think we were a couple and that's why she kissed me."

Nathan shrugged, "I don't know. All the circumstantial evidence kind of points that way."

"Lindsey may be a lot of things, Nate, but I don't think she'd stoop to something like that," Haley said defending her best friend's fiancée.

"I'm not saying she did. I'm just saying all clues point in that direction. The only thing you can do is ask her."

The three were quiet for a few minutes and then Haley broke the silence.

"I knew about all of that, what didn't Brooke tell me, Nathan?"

Nathan looked at the ground and then back at his wife and brother, tears sparkled in his dark blue eyes.

"What's wrong Nate?" Haley asked, putting her hand on his arm.

"You remember when I got that call to go to Los Angeles to meet with the coach of the D league team?"

Haley nodded, "How could I forget. You'd worked yourself into a hell of a state by the time you got on the plane."

"It was Julian on the phone."

"Baker?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah."

"You met Julian before the other night at Brooke and Peyton's?"

Nathan nodded again, "Let me explain."

When the two nodded in agreement, Nathan launched into the hardest part of the story.

"Remember when he started to tell us about the second time he met Peyton and Peyton wouldn't let him answer, she shook her head so it he wouldn't finish his explanation."

Haley nodded in remembrance.

"That's because the second time he met her was coming out of the book signing. She was so devastated by what she assumed was Luke's betrayal and cruelty, she had a break down and I'm not talking being a little said she was hysterical. Julian spoke to her as she was coming out the store and she absolutely lost it. She collapsed on the sidewalk. He called 911 and he also called me. He told me what happened and I had to go and take care of her. They couldn't get hold of Larry or Derek; she had me down at the hospital as one of her emergency contacts."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"If you think back, Hales, every time Peyton's name got brought up you would start calling her all kinds of nasty names."

"Oh yeah," she admitted ashamed of her behavior.

"When I got to L.A. I called Brooke. It took us months to snap her out of it. They ended up having to feed her intravenously. God, she was a mess. Haven't you noticed how much smaller she is since she's been back. She's always been tiny but not like she is today," he shook his head trying to shake away the memories and trying to keep the tears at bay. "Peyton doesn't remember a lot of it. She doesn't remember Julian from that time and as you can tell by the show Julian and Brooke put on, she doesn't remember them meeting before. She thinks they met for the first time the other night at dinner," he shrugged. "She asked Brooke and me not to tell anyone about the collapse, especially you two."

"I understand why you didn't tell Hales, Nate but you should have told me," Luke cried the emotion evident in his voice, "I could have helped her. You should have told me."

The younger Scott shook his head, "As far as Brooke and I were concerned you put her there."

"Nathan!" Haley shouted at him.

"What? It's the truth. Whether Luke was with Lindsey or not, he should not have permitted her to kiss him knowing that he wanted to get back with Peyton or that Peyton may see them. It's his fault," he said pointing to his brother.

"Your right, of course, Nathan. I should have stopped her. I should have pushed Lindsey away."

The room went silent then, except the sounds of Lucas' painful breathing.

"I have to go home. I'll talk to you later," he rose from his seat and was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 A Shock to His System

Lucas could hardly breathe through the pain his heart was putting him through. What Nathan had said was true; Peyton's breakdown was his fault. He'd invited her to signing. He'd allowed Lindsey to kiss him, knowing she was supposed to come. He put his head against the steering wheel and cried.

When he'd finally cried himself out, he put the car in gear and drove home to confront the woman that was to be his wife. He drove the short distance across town, parked his car and went into the house.

"Lindsey!" he called as he entered through the front door.

"Ohmygod, Luke," she said rushing into the room and throwing her arms around him. "Are you okay? I've been so worried."

"I'm fine," he answered no emotion in his voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked removing her arms from his neck and backing away.

"No. I don't want to talk about it. Maybe there's something else we should talk about," he suggested.

"Did you talk to Brooke? Did she change her mind and agree to make my dress?"

Lucas shook his head, "Brooke won't be making your dress."

"I thought you were such good friends with the great designer, Brooke Davis," she sneered. "I thought she'd do anything for you."

"Apparently, I was wrong," he replied.

"So Haley had a run in with Peyton. Brooke too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, according to my brother, Peyton slapped her."

"What! That girl is such a bitch, Lucas. You're lucky to be rid of her."

"Do you want to tell me what you and Haley have been doing to Peyton?"

"Is that what this is a lot about? Haley and I giving Peyton a bad time," she laughed humorlessly.

"So it's true?"

"It's not as bad as you think, Lucas. We just embarrassed her a few times, sparkled my beautiful ring under her nose, and treated her like the piece of trash she is."

"What makes you think that I'd be okay with this Lindsey?"

"You chose me didn't you," she stated firmly.

"I guess that's true," he said reaching for her arm and making her look at him. "What happened at the book signing?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Lucas," she reached out and started trying to unbutton his shirt.

"Is that what you want me to believe?" he pushed her hands away.

"Come on Lucas, it's been weeks," she begged.

"Tell me what happened with Peyton at the book signing."

"Nothing."

"Lindsey, tell me what happened with Peyton in Los Angeles."

"Nothing!" she screamed at him.

He pushed away from her, "Let me tell you what I think happened Lindsey. I think you waited until you saw Peyton that day. I think you kissed me because you wanted her to think we were together."

"I…I…" Lindsey started trying to defend herself.

"Is it true?"

"No!" she cried.

"Is it TRUE!" he bellowed at her.

Lindsey shouted, "Yes! Yes! It's true. Are you happy now? I waited to kiss you knowing that Peyton is so insecure she'd never question what she saw. I knew it would be easy to give her the wrong idea about us. Most importantly, I knew that if you'd just give me a chance you could love me, and I was right you do love me. We're getting married in a couple of months because you love me!"

"How could you have done this to me Lindsey? You knew how I felt about her. You edited the damn book!"

"Your right, Luke, I edited the damn book that's why I had to stop you from seeing her in L.A. She didn't deserve you. She's not good enough for you. You deserved someone that could love you the way that I do! We're good together."

"You didn't have the right to make that decision for me, Lindsey."

"But I was right Luke, don't you see. You were able to move on because you were able to fall in love with me."

"You shouldn't have lied to me Lindsey. I can't marry you. I don't want to marry you. I never did. I proposed to you by accident because you were looking in places you had no business being. You found the ring and I was still too afraid of my feelings for Peyton so I proposed to you, protecting my own heart, not because I loved you or wanted to spend my life with you. That ring you've been flashing in Peyton's face is hers. My mother gave it to me to give to her, not you. I only went out with you because of the crushing pain my heart was putting me through. You're a rebound Lindsey, nothing more. A poor man's Peyton. Second best!"

"You don't mean that Lucas! Please, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it. Forgive me Lucas. I love you!"

"You love me! You don't even know the definition of the word. Love is doing whatever it takes to make the other person happy. Like Keith did for my Mom and like Peyton has tried to do for me, putting their own feelings aside so they could be good friends. She didn't tell me about the hell you and Haley were putting her through because she knew how much it would hurt me. I'm disgusted with myself for allowing you to manipulate me and for the way I've treated Peyton since she came home but do you know what I regret the most, I regret that I told the love of my life that I loved you and not her. I broke her because she broke my heart and didn't show up at the signing like she promised me she would. But she was there and you knew. You make me sick, Lindsey Strauss! You need to pack your stuff and get out of my house, before I do something I'll regret later!"

"No please Lucas. I'm sorry. Give me another chance!"

"Another chance? If it wasn't for your lie you would never have had a first chance," with those parting words he stormed out the door.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Later Bitch

Haley reached for the phone and she past through the kitchen into the living room, "Hello."

"Hhhhaley. Iiits Linlinlinsey. CCCan you cccome over ppplease?"

"Yeah okay. I'll be right there. Don't worry. It'll all be okay."

She ended the call and went to the living room to talk to Nathan. "That was Lindsey on the phone, she's a mess. I'm going to go over and see if I can help her."

"I think you need to stay the hell out of this Hales."

"The girl is crushed, Nate. I can't just leave her there. She's still my best friend's fiancée."

"Not for long," he mumbled under his breath.

"I'm going. I'll just stay until Lucas shows up and then I'll be home."

Haley arrived at the house a few minutes later. She ran up to the house and walked inside. "Lindsey!" she called.

"Kkkitchen!" she heard her friend's broken voice say.

She was crumpled on the floor in a heap, sobbing. "It's going to be okay Lindsey. It's going to be okay. Lucas loves you, he's just upset. Nate got him all worked up today, putting things in his head."

She shook her head frantically, "Lilacs is gggone. Hhhe told me to ggget out! I tttried to explain. Hhhe wouldn't lllisten."

"He wouldn't listen to what?" she helped the woman off the floor into a chair and got her a hot cup of tea. "I know him better than anyone else and Lucas loves you Lindsey. He'll come around you'll see. I promise," Haley took the seat beside her.

After she'd had a few sips of her tea, Lindsey was able to control the sobbing. "He was really angry, Hales. I knew if he ever found out he'd be angry but I thought we'd be married by then. I know he would have tried to save our marriage but he found out too soon."

"Are you saying that Nathan was right? His theory was the truth."

Lindsey slowly nodded her head.

"Please Lindsey tell me I'm being punked because Lucas will never ever forgive this. You edited Ravens; basically a love letter to Peyton and you lied to him about her. He has a very forgiving soul but except when it comes to her. Why would you do such a thing? He was devastated by what happened. He hasn't been himself since then. What were you thinking?"

"Have you ever looked into Lucas' eyes when he talks about her? Or felt the love that radiates from him when he sees her? The love he has for her is staggering even to the people watching it. I couldn't compete with that, I had to stop him from seeing her if I was going to get a chance. She isn't good enough for him. He chose me. He asked me to marry him and I said yes. She's here and he picked me. It has to count for something right?"

"Oh my god!" Haley said again her hand covering her mouth.

"Stop saying that Haley. You said yourself that you know him better than anyone and that he loves me. You said he'd forgive me for anything. You promised Hales!"

"I never should have said that. I never thought in a million years, that you would do something like this to him. You said you loved him. If you truly loved him you would never have done this to him. Never," she said quietly. "This is unforgivable Lindsey."

"Well, well, Haley and Lindsey," Lucas growled coming back into the house. "Dreaming of some new torture for Peyton? Don't you think you've caused enough damage to her and to me?"

"It wasn't like that Lucas," Haley told Lucas.

"Tell Lindsey what happened between you and your two oldest friends because of what you two were doing. Tell her how they didn't want to be your friend anymore. Tell her how all of this has almost cost you your marriage and your best friend."

The tears slid down Haley's face. "Everything he said is true. I'm still not sure that Nathan and I are okay. Peyton is his best friend and I've done some pretty awful things to her and I've said some very nasty things to her. I may not be able to ever make this right again."

"When you tell lies Lindsey, it affects more than one person. It affects everyone around them too. I've lost some very important people because I'm a coward and because I let myself believe that Peyton would let me down something she has never done, she's always been there for me. Supported me and I let her down over and over again but she keeps loving me anyway. And this is how I've repaid her," his voice caught in his throat. "I can't believe you let yourself get caught up in all this Haley. Peyton was one of your best friends and you threw her aside for her," he pointed to Lindsey. "You're married to my brother so no matter what, I have to see you but I don't know if I can ever forgive for this. My problems with Peyton were my own and you should have stayed out of it."

"I'm so sorry Luke. I was wrong. I should have stayed out of it. Nathan was right. I need to let you take care of your own life and just be your friend not try and fix everything."

He turned his back on them and they could here him rooting around in his bedroom. He came out a few minutes later carrying an overnight bag, "I'm staying with my brother tonight. You have until tomorrow to be gone. You," he pointed at Lindsey again his voice and face full of loathing, "resign as my editor the moment your feet hit the ground in New York. I don't want to hear from or see you again. Do you understand me? Now give me the ring!" he held out his hand.

"You can't have it, its mine. You gave it to me," she jumped to her feet and started backing away putting her hands behind her back. "I won't let you have it, I won't."

"Give me the ring, it was never yours. It's Peyton's. It always has been and it always will be. Now give me the ring or I'll take it from you," his voice deepened menacingly.

"Give him the ring, Lindsey. Please give it to me," Haley begged the tone of her best friend's voice scaring her.

Lindsey slipped the ring from her finger and put it into Lucas' hand, "This is all so ridiculous Luke, and you know you're going to miss me. You know your going to come crawling back to me. You love me, I know you do."

"I wouldn't be with you if you were the last woman on the planet. Get your crap and get out of my house." He turned his back on the pair and walked out the door. He stopped without turning around, "Your time is ticking. Anything that remains when I return is going in the garbage."

Haley moved in front of Lindsey and told her firmly, "You need to get your things together Lindsey and leave here. I'll help you, come on."

She led the dumb founded woman around the house gathering her things and putting them into suitcases. When at long last, every trace of Lindsey was gone from Luke's house, Haley called the airport for the first flight out of town. She drove her to the airport and gave her these parting words, "Don't call him. Leave him alone. Let him heal."


	12. Chapter 12

A/n: Thanks for the reviews. I'm not sure what happened with the upload of chapter 8 it shouldn't have gone that way. So I apologize. Anyway as long as it's understood that Peyton is completely obsessed with An Unkindness of Ravens I guess that's all that really matters. Here's chapter 12. Hope you enjoy it and I hope it makes up for the screw up. R&R thanks again.

Chapter 12

Lindsey sat in her New York office, furious over the events. There she was basking in her victory of winning Lucas and that blonde slut, had to ruin it. There had to be a way to fix this. There had to be. She got up and began pacing. She needed Haley's help that was for sure; she grabbed the phone and dialed the North Carolina number.

"Hello," Haley said not checking the caller ID before she answered.

"Hi Hales. It's Lindsey."

"Oh," she said flatly and then taking a deep breath, "How are you?"

"I'm horrible. I miss him, Hales. I can't live without him."

"I…I…I don't know what to say, Lindsey. You lied to him. You made him believe that Peyton didn't care about him. His heart is hurting and you caused it."

"I know, what I did was wrong. I wish I could take it back. I need to fix this. I need you to help me fix this. He was happy with me. He loved me. You said so yourself. Please Haley!" she fake cried into the phone.

"I was wrong Lindsey. I should never have gotten involved before and I certainly can't get involved now. You don't know how our actions have affected Lucas or Peyton. They're both devastated."

"I couldn't care less how anything affects that blonde… Peyton is a bitch, Hales. A self-centered, self-serving, manipulative bitch. She's the one that broke Lucas' heart. She's the one that said no to his proposal. She only decided she wanted Lucas back when he'd moved on from her. When he'd fallen in love with me. You know it and so do I. Please Hales, please. I… I… need to be with him. I'm so lost," she grinned to herself as she put on the performance of her life.

Haley took a deep breath, "Lucas is out of town again, Lindsey. I don't know how long he's going to be gone because he's still not talking to me but I'll tell you what, you can come and stay with us and plead your case to Luke when he gets home. I can't help you in any other way. Understand?"

"Thank you Hales. You're doing the right thing. I promise. Just call and let me know when he gets back and I'll fly in that day. You won't be sorry."

"Sure. Sure," Haley replied, truly unsure if she was doing the right thing.

Peyton and Brooke sat at the kitchen island drinking coffee and Brooke was off on her usual rant.

"Come on Peyton. He left her. He didn't know you'd been to the signing. You have to give him a break on this. You love him and can't live without him."

Peyton put her head in her hands, "Your right Brooke, I love Lucas. I always will but I'm not doing this again."

"He's the other half of your heart."

"He is."

Brooke growled in frustration, "Are you at least going to talk to him when he gets back?"

Peyton shook her head, "No."

"Why the hell not?"

"He chose Lindsey. I told him I still loved him. He kissed me in my studio and then went home and proposed to," she shuddered at the thought, "Lindsey."

"He dated me in high school too, but you forgave him for that."

"Exactly!" she shouted getting up from her seat and putting her cup in the sink. "He keeps pulling this shit and I keep forgiving him, well not this time."

"Instead you're going to keep buying his book and wallowing in self pity," the brunette snapped.

"I'll keep buying the book, but I think I'm going to start dating again," she replied.

"That's not fair to the guy, P, and you know it. Look what it did to Julian."

"You don't know anything about my relationship with Julian!" she shrieked. "You spent a couple of days with him, Brooke."

Brooke snapped, "So much you know, Peyton. I've known and been Julian's girlfriend for years. The first time I met him was when you had your break down. Nathan, Julian and I helped each other help you. Julian and you hooked up so Nate and I felt it was okay to go home. After your three month tryst with him, he came to visit me in New York. You told him we were an epic love story and you were right we are and have been for a long time!"

"You've been lying to me?"

Brooke nodded, "We decided it was best if you didn't know about Julian's involvement with your recovery. You couldn't remember any of that time and we truly believed it would just mix you up more."

"I get that, I do but you didn't have to lie to me about your involvement with Julian."

Brooke looked at her lap and then back at her best friend, "I know I shouldn't have lied about it. I didn't want to lie but I was afraid you'd change your mind about him and he'd leave me for you just like Lucas did!" she cried.

Peyton walked over and wrapped her arms around her best friend, "Its okay Brooke. It's okay."

"I'm so sorry, Peyt. I should have told you."

"Yeah you should of but its water under the bridge now. We'll get past it; it's really not that big a deal. I have to go or I'm going to miss my flight. I'll leave the Comet at the airport and see you when I get back," she said giving her friend one last squeeze and going out the door.


	13. Chapter 13

Not MS, CW, cast or crew of OTH

Chapter 13 Goodbye Peyton Hello Lucas

Within a week of Peyton's departure, Lucas returned to Tree Hill. He'd been in contact with Nathan but had refused any contact with Haley. 

"She's your best friend, Luke."

"Was my best friend, Nate, was," Lucas replied flatly when they met up for dinner a couple of nights after his return.

"What she did was shitty man, but she's my wife and even if you don't think so right now, she's still your best friend. Talk to her."

Lucas shook his head, "I can't, Nate. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to talk to her again."

Nate took an exasperated breath, "Haley, Brooke and Peyton are trying to put this all behind them, Luke. Peyton is still really hurt by what Haley did but she's trying for my sake because she's my best friend."

Lucas smiled thinking about how forgiving his blonde is, "She's never had it in her heart to carry a grudge, Nate. If she did, you and she would not be throwing around the words best friends especially in reference to each other."

In the long run, Nathan had understood Luke's reluctance to talk to Haley and they agreed to disagree about it, moving on to other topics of discussion including Nate's afore mentioned, best friend, Peyton. "She's in California, Lucas. She left about the same time you came home at Brooke's insistence. She needed a break from all the drama."

Lucas' face fell, "I really want to talk to her Nate."

"I understand that Lucas, but you need to give her time. You almost married someone else."

"I know. Do you know when she'll be back?"

"I don't know for sure. She said she'd call me when she's heading back but other than that we don't talk about it."

"Has she asked about me?"

Nathan smiled at his brother's question, "Yeah, she has. She's worried about 

you and your heart with all this drama."

"Really," he instantly brightened.

"She's afraid the stress accompanied with the HCM, can't be good for you."

"Oh."

"I don't want to give you false hope bro. She's angry and really hurt. I'm actually surprised she's as good as she is considering…"

"I know but...I love her Nate. I'm in love with her! I need to see her."

Nathan took a deep breath, "She loves you too, man. She's in love with you but she can't risk her heart again. I told you what happened after the whole book signing thing and she doesn't even remember most of it. All she knows is the doctors said she'd die if it ever happened again. Hell she damn near died this time. It was really touch and go for a while."

Lucas held up his hand in surrender, "I won't hurt her again Nate. I won't. I need her in my life and I don't care if she's my friend, my wife or my enemy. I need her in my world."

"Then devote yourself to her, Luke. If you want her back in some capacity, fight to get her there without hurting her in the process but understand this big brother," Nate said with no hint of humor and considerable veiled threat, "if you hurt her again, I will not be responsible for my actions. I'll beat you within an inch of your life, allow you to heal and then put you back in the hospital. You will never hurt her again. Do we understand each other?"

Lucas nodded, "Yeah, I understand."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Haley's Call

Nathan had gone out to meet Lucas for dinner and Haley had finally gotten Jamie down for the night when she reached for the phone.

"Hey Lindsey. It's me, Haley."

"Hi, I take it Lucas is back in Tree Hill."

"Yeah, he is. He got home a couple of days ago."

"Okay well, I'll book my flight and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Oh, okay Lindsey. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

Haley hung up the phone. She was completely unsure about what she was doing. She knew that Luke loved Lindsey but because of what she and Lindsey had done to Peyton. He was angry. There was the fact that Lindsey hid Peyton's appearance at the book signing to consider but he had chosen Lindsey over the blonde. She sighed hoping either way, Lucas would understand.

"How was your dinner with Lucas?" she asked Nathan when he came in a few hours later.

"Fine."

"Is that all your going to give me?"

"He still won't budge, Hales. He doesn't want to talk to you right now."

"Oh, alright then. Uhm did you talk to Peyton today? Is she still in L.A? Did she say when she was coming home?"

"Yes, yes and no," he replied.

"Oh."

"I think I'll go to bed," he said kissing her cheek and heading upstairs.

She followed him not understanding his suddenly strange behavior, "Did I do something?"

Nathan shook his head, "It's been a long night. Lucas is in a bad way. It kind of wore me out."

She nodded in understanding, "He should have given Lindsey a chance to explain. They'd have worked things out already if he had and he wouldn't be so miserable now," she said crossing her fingers that she still knew the blonde Scott as well as she used to.

"You claim to be his best friend but you don't know my brother at all, do you?"

"Of course I do. Lucas is in love with Lindsey. God knows he spent months driving it into our heads."

"That's odd, Lucas never mentioned Lindsey all night. He was only interested in Peyton. How she is, where she is, if she loves him still," he told her, "and as far as him trying to convince us that he was in love with someone other than Peyton, is kind of déjà vu don't you think?"

"He was just a kid when he thought he was in love with Brooke. Besides, you made it clear how you feel about Lindsey," she replied simply, trying to convince herself she'd done the right thing by inviting Lindsey to stay with them while she came to see Lucas.

"I love you, Nathan."

"I love you too, Hales. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she leaned over his shoulder and kissed his cheek.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Lindsey's Return Pissed Off Nate

When Haley woke the next morning, she found a note on Nathan's pillow.

_Gone to the river court._

_I have Jamie. Home later._

_Nate_

She was surprised by the note. It was the first time in their relationship that he'd left a note that didn't say love Nate or love Nathan something that spoke of his feelings for her. She became more nervous about her agreement to allow Lindsey to stay with them. She began to see maybe her marriage was in trouble. Serious trouble.

She heard knocking on her front door and realized it was too late to change her mind. Grabbing her housecoat from the hook, she ran down the stairs to let Lindsey in.

"Hi Hales," a very red puffy eyed Lindsey said after she'd opened the door.

"Lindsey," Haley said pulling the very unhappy woman into her arms, "come on in." She stepped aside letting the woman in.

Haley showed her to the guest room so she could put her suitcases in there and then they went to the kitchen for coffee.

"How is he?" Lindsey asked as she took her seat.

"I don't know to be honest. Lucas isn't talking to me and Nathan isn't really sharing with me either."

"I really appreciate you letting me stay while I'm here. I know if I can just get Lucas to talk to me, we can work this out."

"Yeah," she said noncommittally.

They talked about other things, how things were in Tree Hill and New York but Haley didn't tell her about her concerns for her own relationship. They didn't talk about what Lindsey had done to Peyton in Los Angeles and they didn't discuss what the pair had done to her when she'd arrived back in Tree Hill.

"Hales!" Nathan called as he entered the house a few hours later.

"In here!" she called back to him.

"Hey hon…" he started as he entered the kitchen where the pair sat, his face changing from happy to furious in seconds.

"Hi Nate," she said getting up from her seat and going to meet him, tip toeing trying to kiss his cheek.

He placed his hand on her waist and pushed her away, "What the hell is she doing here?" he bellowed.

"I..I told her it would be okay if, if she stayed with us for a while. She, she wants to talk to Lucas."

"She's not staying here!"

"Please Nathan, I just…"

"Shut your mouth Lindsey!"

"Nathan!" Haley shrieked, "Please don't be like this, it's only for a few days."

"I have to see Lucas," Lindsey started to cry.

"I don't care what you have to do. Get your shit and get out of my house and take her with you!" he pointed to Haley and stormed out of the room.

"Nathan!" Haley called to her husband.

He whipped around and looked at his wife, "You heard me Haley. You want to help the woman who broke my brother's heart, and helped you torture my best friend, by all means, but you won't do it in MY house."

"It's our house, Nate."

"Is that so, I don't remember seeing your money on the shoe contracts," he shot at her. "This is my house and my wife's. If you see her, let her know I love her and its time she came home."

"I am your wife, Nathan!"

"The hell you are! My wife wouldn't be inviting the devil to stay in her house so she can try and hurt my brother further."

"I don't want to hurt him. I love him!" Lindsey tried to explain.

He glared at her, "Which part of get out of my house did you not understand?" he looked at Haley; "You go with her and be gone by the time I get out of the shower."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N Sorry for the long wait for this update. I've been arguing with my muse about the current direction its taking me. Naley fans, I apologize in advance but like MS says Nathan and Haley fans keep the faith.

Enjoy!

Chapter 16 Shock and Surprise

Nathan stood in the shower letting the hot water cascade down his back. He couldn't believe that Haley was still dabbling in Luke's life this way. She just couldn't stay out of it and letting Lindsey come here without talking to him first. Lucas would never forgive him if he allowed this he… dare he think it, hated Haley for putting him in this position.

"Nathan!" Haley called storming into the room, "Get the hell out of the shower! You don't have the right to throw me out of my own house!"

Nathan turned off the water and pushed aside the glass door, reaching out and grabbing the large white towel. "Get out!" he shouted.

"Grow up, Nathan!"

He glared at her, making sure the towel was wrapped tightly around him and got out, "I don't know what part of this you don't understand, Hales. All your interference and meddling is putting your own relationship in jeopardy. The Haley James I know wouldn't be involved in all this crap that's going on. You want help Lindsey get back with Lucas you go right ahead but I guarantee your friendship with my brother will be over, I'll tell Peyton and Brooke you've changed ships yet again and I will file for divorce so fast your held will spin. So think about it!"

"You wouldn't file for divorce over this Nate, would you?"

"You were going to file for divorce because I looked at a naked woman and because she kissed me. I never returned the kiss but you didn't care about that. This is all being done consciously, Hales. Your choosing to help Lindsey hurt my brother." He raged on, trying with volume to finally make her understand, "She lied to him about Peyton. Do you understand what that means? Have you even considered it? Lindsey and Lucas would never have gotten together in a million years if she hadn't pulled that crap in Los Angeles."

"I just want Luke to be happy and I think that Lindsey can give him that."

Nathan rubbed his hands hard against his face in frustration, "I'm going to say this one more time, Lucas is in love with Peyton! Always has been, always will be!"

Haley rolled her eyes, "Peyton is a wonderful girl, Nate. She's been there for you at times when I should have been and wasn't but that doesn't mean she's the right choice for Lucas."

Nathan slipped on a pair of sweats under the towel, the significance of this action lost on his angry wife. "Whatever, Hales," Nathan said as he reached for his wallet looking in the card section for something.

"What the hell are you doing Nathan! I'm trying to talk to you about this."

"So talk," he continued flipping through his cards.

"I think if you sit back about what's best for your brother and not what's best for you, you'll realize that Lindsey is the right choice for him and so will he."

"There it is," he pulled the card out and picked up the phone from the bedside table.

"Nathan!" she shouted.

"Go ahead, Hales," he began dialing numbers into the phone.

"I'm trying to keep my personal feelings out of this and trying to…"

Nathan held up a single finger to interrupt her then he mouthed '_hold that thought,' _"Hi Kara, Nathan Scott here is Mike available," a short pause, "Hey Mike, Nate." another short pause, "Good, I was just wandering if you handle separation and divorce issues as well as sports contracts," another short pause, "I'm about ready to cash in on this marriage. Haley won't stay out of other people's love lives when hers is going in the toilet," pause, "Great tomorrow morning 10am. I'll see you then."

"You! You! You wouldn't dare!"

"Appointments set up for tomorrow morning, Hales."

"Nathan," she begged in that whiny annoying voice she used on him to get her own way.

"Its not going to work. I told you to stay the hell out of Luke's love life. Peyton is making the attempt to be your friend after you and the kitchen bitch have tortured her for the past six months. You brought Lindsey here to talk to Lucas. I said stay out of it. I said get out. You chose Lindsey again knowing you and are were on the brink. You still choose Lindsey. I CHOSE MY DIVORCE LAWYER! Now pack your shit and go stay at a hotel with Lindsey. I hope you have a wonderful life together." He started out of the room, "Oh and by the way, Jamie stays with me!"

"You can't keep my son from me Nathan!"

"The hell I can't. Until there's a custody order he stays here with me. You chose this Hales, not me." He turned his back on her and left the room hollering to his son as he made his way downstairs, "J-Luke! Let's go see if Uncle Lucas is home!" They heard a loud whoop coming from the direction of the living room. "Don't forget to lock up when you leave," he called back to his stunned wife over his shoulder. A few short minutes later, she heard the closing of the front door.

"Nathan! Nathan!" she cried running down the stairs and throwing open the front door, but he was already pulling out of the driveway. Collapsing on the floor, she broke into hysterical sobs.

"He won't go through with this," Lindsey said gathering her friend into her arms and helping her into the house. "This is all Peyton's fault. If she'd just stayed in Los Angeles, none of this would be happening right now."

"Lindsey you just might have a point," Haley whispered through her sobs.

"Come on, I'll help you pack and we'll figure out how to get rid of that bitch once and for all."

The two women disappeared upstairs into Haley's room and packed her things. Talking and plotting the demise of Peyton Sawyer.


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: This is the second time this story has been posted. Actually accidentally deleted up to chapter 15 and had to post the whole thing over. Sorry for the long delay in the UD, I'm playing hide and go seek with my muse and I was having difficulty deciding where to go with this story. **_

_**Disclaimer: Still own nothing**_

_**Chapter 17 Here We Go Again**_

_**Peyton had only just gotten back from California and was enjoying a quiet afternoon with Brooke. Her new assistant had taken great care of the label while she'd been out of town which gave her the opportunity to have this time with her BFF. **_

"_**Did the time away help?" Brooke asked still concerned for her long time best friend.**_

"_**To some degree, it did," she replied the melancholy still apparent in her voice.**_

"_**Well the bitch, formerly known as Lindsey, is now gone so at least that drama is over finally," Brooke sighed in relief.**_

_**Peyton shook her head, "No she isn't."**_

_**The brunette looked at her friend incredulously, "Luke ended his relationship with her. He told her to go back to New York."**_

"_**Well that may be so but I saw Lindsey with suitcases going into Naley's on my way home."**_

"_**Lindsey is at Nate and Haley's?" she asked, shocked by this new development. **_

_**Peyton shrugged and nodded, "Apparently, my best friend is fraternizing with the enemy again," her tears barely held at bay.**_

"_**I don't understand this," Brooke grumbled. "Nate would never do that to you P and you know it. He couldn't know. And what the hell is up with Haley? I brought her back before you were ready to forgive her and this is how she repays me?"**_

"_**I don't know what to say about any of it," Peyton replied dejectedly.**_

_**They sat looking at each other hoping the other would come up with some plausible explanation. When after ten minutes of silence neither woman had come up with anything. Brooke had an idea, "Do you think Haley would try and help Lindsey get back with Lucas?"**_

"_**That's exactly what I think is going on," the blonde agreed. "What I don't understand is why. Haley and I used to be close. I know she was angry about Lucas having his heart broken and all that but we told her what really happened and she's still going to help Lindsey. I just don't get what she's doing. It seems as if she wants Luke to be with anyone who isn't me, just like in high school."**_

"_**What?" Brooke asked surprised by her best friend's statement.**_

"_**When we were in high school, Haley knew that I was in love with Lucas from the start but she encouraged the relationship with you and did everything she could to keep the two of you together."**_

"_**I'm sorry about that whole thing," apologizing again for her high school relationship with Lucas.**_

"_**Please. I am so over all that, you and I are still best friends in spite of all that Lucas Scott crap. I just thought all that drama was over but apparently, Haley thinks he would be better off with anyone whose name is NOT Peyton Sawyer."**_

_**Brooke had started to reply when the front door opened and Nathan walked in. "Hey Nate," she happily said before noticing the strained look on the man's face.**_

"_**Hey Brooke. Peyton."**_

"_**What's wrong?" Peyton asked immediately trying to keep her voice level and not rage at him about Lindsey being at his house.**_

"_**Haley."**_

"_**What's going on, Nate?" Brooke asked her face and tone concerned.**_

"_**I called a lawyer and I'm going to file for legal separation."**_

"_**What the hell?" the two women asked in unison.**_

_**Nathan nodded and lowered his head, "I just can't do it anymore. She just doesn't seem to care about our relationship being in jeopardy because she won't stay out of Luke's."**_

"_**You're filing for separation because of me," Peyton cried.**_

"_**No, I'm filing because of her and her inability to stay out of my brother's love life."**_

"_**I should have stayed in L.A." Peyton mumbled under her breath. "I should have just stayed in L.A. None of this would be going on right now if I had just stayed the hell away."**_

"_**Peyton!" Brooke shouted at her. Peyton continued to mumble under her breath and the dark haired woman shot Nathan a concerned look.**_

_**He reached for his blonde friend, pulling her into a hug, "None of this is your fault, Sawyer. None of it! Do you hear me?"**_

_**Peyton's eyes started to glass over.**_

"_**Peyton!" Nathan bellowed. "Listen to me, you are not checking out on me again." He moved away from her and smacked her cheeks sharply with his hands trying to get her to refocus. "Let me tell you why. You need to listen to me and you need to fight back, Sawyer!"**_

_**Peyton shook her head and could feel the hysteria she'd fought for the years after the book signing hovering in the back of her mind. She needed to stay in control of this or risk losing herself to the madness. "Why is Lindsey at your house, Nate?"**_

"_**Haley invited her to stay at the house while she tries to work things out with Lucas. I didn't know anything about it. I got home from the river court and the bitch was sitting in my kitchen. I kicked her out. Haley told me what they were up to and I kicked her out too. I gave her the opportunity to back out of whatever she was up to with Lindsey. She wouldn't. She still believes Lucas loves Lindsey and that she is the best choice for him. So I called my lawyer with her standing there. She still is on Lindsey's team, you two. I'm so sorry I thought she understood after everything she's learned over the past few weeks but she just doesn't seem able to stay out of it."**_

_**Peyton could feel her temper starting to rage. Her hands started shaking and she wanted to beat the crap out of her best friend's wife and her little friend but she knew that was no use. "You better keep her the hell away from me!" Peyton bellowed. "I'm going to more that slap those bitches if they get any where near me. I swear!"**_

"_**I'll make sure she stays away!" Brooke shouted, her own anger building fiercely. She reached out and grabbed her phone. **_

"_**Clothes Over Bros," a sweet voice said when they answered the line.**_

"_**Becky, its Brooke Davis."**_

"_**Good afternoon, Ms Davis."**_

"_**Can you put me through to Will in security?"**_

"_**Absolutely Ms. Davis."**_

_**Brooke waited for a few moments until she heard the strong voice of her head of security answer the line.**_

"_**Brooke!" he said happily. "How is my favorite boss?"**_

"_**I'm great Will but I need a favor."**_

"_**Anything for you. What do you need?"**_

"_**I need a couple of guys in Tree Hill to take care of a little security issue."**_

"_**Are you in any danger, Brooke?" he asked concernedly.**_

_**Brooke took a deep breath and explained her concerns for Peyton's safety and why she needed someone in Tree Hill to protect her.**_

"_**Do you really think this is necessary?" Peyton asked.**_

_**Nathan nodded. "I'm afraid it is. Haley isn't herself and Lindsey seems to be pulling all the strings. I love Haley but the woman I've been living with these last few months is not her. I don't know what they're capable of and I know by looking at Brooke that she feels the same way."**_


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Sorry for the long wait. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing..

Chapter 18

Haley sat on the edge of the bed trying to figure out exactly what had happened. She was in a hotel room and not at home where she belonged and she couldn't quite figure out how that had happened. She did believe that Lindsey deserved the chance to explain herself to Lucas and to try and save their relationship but Haley also knew that the woman was wasting her time. She'd known the moment she read The Comet that Lucas was still in love with Peyton and she'd told him not to marry Lindsey because of it but here she sat after having a huge argument with Nate about the fact that Lucas should stay with Lindsey because she was the better choice. The truth is she didn't believe that for a moment. She'd gotten caught up in the fact that Nathan was trying to tell her what to do and who she could have in their house. 'I am such an idiot,' she said to herself, 'risking my own marriage to help someone, I've never thought belonged with Lucas, back with him.' She heard a light knock on her door. She knew who it was and got up to answer it.

"You ready for this," Lindsay asked as the door to Haley's room opened.

"Ready for what?" the petite brunette asked.

"Getting rid of the life ruining blonde bitch?"

Haley shook her head, "I don't know what I was thinking Lindsey. I don't belong here plotting against one of my oldest and dearest friends. Peyton is a good woman, she doesn't deserve any of this."

"Have you forgotten that your husband has chosen Peyton over you?"

She scoffed, "No he hasn't. He's defending his best friend from his irrational crazy wife and his brother's ex-fiancée."

"He's not my ex-anything," she growled low in her throat, "and we'll be together if I have to kill Peyton to get what I want."

"Don't be ridiculous, Lindsey. If anything happens to Peyton, Lucas will come looking for you but it won't be for happily ever after. It'll be to hand you your ass on a platter."

"A few weeks ago he was in love with me, now because of her, he's suddenly forgotten that fact," Lindsey raised her eyebrow in question.

"I have to be honest with you, Lindsey. I don't think Lucas was ever in love with you. He did almost the same thing to Brooke in high school. He convinced himself that he was in love with her because he was afraid that Peyton would reject him again. You edited the book, you know how it went down. He wasn't making that shit up."

Lindsey glared at the smaller woman, pure hatred in her eyes, "Peyton Sawyer is going to pay for ruining my life," she snarled, "if it's the last thing I do."

"You came here to talk to Lucas. Maybe you should do that before you start anything."

"Yeah maybe you're right. Do you think you could call him and find out where he is?"

"Sure," Haley agreed, happy that she'd come up with something to distract her. She reached for her cell phone and dialed the familiar number.

"Hello," Lucas said sounding as if he'd just woken up.

"Hey Luke," Haley said cautiously not knowing for sure if her best friend had talked to his brother yet.

"Hey Hales," Lucas replied, "what's up?"

"I was just wondering if you were up for some company?"

"Uhm, yeah sure. Come on over. Just come right in, I'm going to hop in the shower."

"Sure okay."

She turned and looked at Lindsey, "He'll be there. Go talk to him. I have to go and see if I can find Nathan. I need to save my own relationship."

Lindsey went back to her own room and grabbed her purse, getting into the rental car, she looked at Haley, "Your doing the right thing, helping me."

"I think you have the right to try and explain what you did to him."

"Well, thank you for trying to see my side of it. Do you want a ride to your place?"

Haley shook her head, "No! If Nate sees you, he'll never let me come home."

"Maybe you can make him see that I'm what's best for Luke. I know she's his best friend but that doesn't make her his brother's soul mate."

"Maybe. I'll talk to you later. Go talk to Lucas."

Lindsey drove away, heading to the house she had come to think of as home. When she arrived she opened the front door and could here the shower running. She quickly decided the best thing she could do would be to show Lucas how much she loved him and she stripped off her clothes on her way down the hall, opening the bathroom door as quietly as she could. She'd never been so happy about one of her remodels as she was about the bathroom. No curtain or door to open on the shower, just an opening away from where the water comes out. She peeked inside and saw that Lucas was standing with his back to the opening. She quietly walked in and wrapped her arms around him.

Lucas jumped and whirled around, completely taken aback by someone joining him in the shower, especially considering the only person he was expecting was his brother's wife and his best friend, Haley. "What the hell!" he shrieked, his brain still a little foggy from sleep. In the split second it took for him to realize Lindsey stood in front of him, he lost it and pushed her away from him. "Get out!" he shouted.

"Come on Luke," Lindsey purred. "You know you want to. I've been gone for weeks. You know you can't go without it forever."

"Get out!" he shouted again, fire and loathing burning in his eyes. "I swear if you don't get the hell out of here…"

"Fine," she snapped, walking back out of the shower.

Taking a deep breath, he shut off the water, staying inside the enclosure he reached for a towel. "What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped after he had the towel wrapped around his waist.

"Trying to save us," she replied tears streaming down her face.

"There is no us! Now get the hell out of my house!"

Lindsey had wrapped herself in a towel before Lucas had gotten out of the shower stall. "I need to get dressed and my clothes are in the hall," she whimpered.

"I don't give a flying rats ass how you get out of my house, just do it," he growled as he opened the door to the bathroom to go to his room and put on some clothes. He started down the hall when he heard a noise by the front door, he looked up to see Nathan, Brooke, Jamie and Peyton standing there. Peyton held a high heeled shoe in her hand. Their eyes locked and he could see the hurt smoldering in her beautiful green eyes. "Peyton, I…" he started, Lindsey came out of the bathroom behind him. The blonde dropped the shoe and without a word disappeared back out the door. He looked up at his brother, "It's not what it looks like, Nate. I swear."

Nathan looked down at Jamie and then at Brooke, "Could you take Jamie away from here and check and make sure Peyton is okay. I need to have a little chat with my… him."

"Sure. Okay. No problem. We'll meet you back at my place," she opened the door taking Jamie's hand and leading him outside.

"Give me the chance to explain, little brother. Just let me put some clothes on. I swear this is completely innocent."

"There's nothing wrong with a man showering with his future wife, Nathan. Its natural," she purred reaching out and dragging a finger down Luke's bare back. "Sex in the shower is wonderful. You and Hales should try it some time," she winked at the brunette standing by the front door.

"Don't touch me!" Lucas yelled, backing away from Lindsey, "and don't tell my brother things like that. Your nothing to me and we most certainly didn't have sex!"

"Come on baby," she cooed, "Nathan understands these things." She moved trying to put her arms around him.

Lucas pushed her off, "Get your fucking clothes on, you stupid bitch, and get the hell out of my house!"

He moved into his room quickly and grabbed a shirt and a pair of sweats out of the drawer, pulling them on. He knew when the shock wore off, Nathan was going to start swinging and he'd rather not be naked when his younger brother beat the crap out of him. When he came back into the hall, Lindsey and her clothes had disappeared into the bathroom. He walked toward his brother with his hands up in front of him, "I swear to God, Nate, this is not what it looks like."

The door to the bathroom opened and Lindsey stepped into the hall, "I'll see you later, baby," she winked as she walked past Luke down the hall toward Nathan. "He still wants me not your little friend. I will be your sister-in-law so you'd better get used to the idea," she growled under her breath, when she reached the dark haired man.

Nathan did not acknowledge the woman's comment. He kept his eyes on his brother, as Lindsey disappeared out the door. He took a deep breath and finally spoke to his brother. "I'm not going to jump to any conclusions here. I'm going to give you the opportunity to explain this to me. If you can make me see that its as innocent as you claim, I'll try and plead your case to Peyton. If you can't, I'll give a five minute head start. Agreed?"

"Agreed," the blonde replied knowing he had done nothing wrong and convinced he could make Nathan see the truth.

Lucas motioned toward the kitchen and Nathan moved further into the house taking a seat at the table. "Haley called," Lucas started. "She said she was coming over. I told her I'd be in the shower and to just come in the house." Nathan raised his eyebrow in question. "Not like that Nate. I just told her I was going to take a shower so she'd know I'd be a few minutes. I was still in bed when she called." He continued to explain to his brother the sequence of events ending with him coming out of the bathroom.

"Haley's with Lindsey," Nathan told his brother flatly. "She invited her to stay at our place so she could try and work things out with you. We had a huge fight and I kicked her out. I've even contacted a lawyer to file for legal separation."

"Do you think Haley set me up?"

Nathan nodded sadly, "Yeah. I do."

"Why were Brooke and Peyton here?"

Nathan blushed, "I went over and talked to them about Lindsey being back in town and the crap with Haley. I wanted Peyton to be aware so she could prepare herself for anything the two could throw at her."

"I'm not sure I understand Nate."

"Haley thinks you'd be better off with Lindsey. She's agreed to help her try and convince you that your ex-fiancée is the better choice."

Lucas' jaw dropped in surprise. "Haley was here when Lindsey told me what she'd done. How could she possibly think I'd go back to her. I am and always have been in love with Peyton. I was just afraid of getting hurt again."

"I knew you were telling the truth by the look in your eyes, man. You just aren't that good a liar. I know you want to make things right with Peyton, big brother but after today…" he shrugged. "I'm not sure even I can fix this."

"I was already in the shower. She came in uninvited, I swear."

"I've been there man. The name Carrie ring any bells?"

Lucas sighed, "I have to try and talk to Peyton." He shot up out of his seat, "I need to explain all of this to her. The engagement to Lindsey, the end of the engagement to Lindsey, this whole mess, I've got so many apologies to make, I should be at it for the rest of my life."

"Sit down Lucas, you know it may be too late for that right?," the younger Scott told his brother seriously. "You may not be able to fix it this time."

"What am I going to do?"

"I told you that if I believed you, I'd help with Peyton and I will but we have something else we need to deal with first."

"Haley and Lindsey."

"Haley and Lindsey," Nathan agreed.


	19. Chapter 19

a/n: Okay so I know this took forever but I lost my mojo and couldn't get it back; on top of the fact LIFE got in the way and I had to live in the real world for awhile before I could return to Tree Hill.

Thanks to the those who asked me to finish the fic, I've managed to write a little something. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Don't own it cause if I did, Chad and Hilarie would still be on the show.

Chapter 19

Nathan had finally had enough. It was time to confront his wife and also time for his brother to send his ex-fiancée packing. He was unsure of what was going on with Haley and why she had gone back to supporting Lindsey but something was not quite right with his wife.

"I've got to go talk to Hales, Luke. I don't know what's going on with her but she's not behaving like herself. She knows what Lindsey did to you and to Peyton," he shook his head in disbelief.

"Nate, I need to get rid of Lindsey and then we can both deal with Haley but Lindsey needs to go first. I'll go talk to her."

Nathan nodded and headed for the door, "Good luck big brother, your going to need it."

"Thanks."

Nathan left him then and Lucas prepared to confront Lindsey. He needed to make her understand that he was and always would be in love with Peyton Sawyer and nothing she did would ever change the situation. He pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed the familiar number.

"Luke, I knew you'd call, Sweetheart," she purred into the phone.

"Meet me at the Riverwalk Café," he told her flatly.

"Okay Baby, I'll be there in ten minutes."

He hung up the phone and mentally prepared himself for the altercation that was about to happen. He climbed into his mustang and took the short drive to meet her. When he climbed out of the car, he could see her already waiting for him outside the cafe. She handed him a coffee when he reached her table. He threw it into the garbage can and glared at her.

"Let's walk," he snapped, pointing in the direction of the fewest number of people.

"Whatever you want Luke, baby," she cooed. "I knew after we got naked together this morning in the shower, you'd change your mind about us," she reached out and tried to grasp his arm.

"Don't!" he growled, pulling his arm away, "What the hell are you doing here, Lindsey? I thought I'd made myself very clear when I told you we were through and to go back to the city."

"I just want to explain," She whined, "Luke, honey…"

"Don't honey me, Lindsey," he stopped short turned looking into her eyes, "I can never forgive you for what you've done to Peyton. I will never, do you understand that, NEVER be with you again whether she ever forgives me or not. You need to go back to your life and stay the hell away from me and my family."

"I can't do that, Lucas. We're meant to be together and you know it. You asked me to marry you not that blonde bitch," she snapped, trying a new tactic to make him see things her way.

"Actually, I proposed to Peyton first, and I settled for you when she hurt me by asking me to wait. I only proposed to you because you were snooping around in places you had no bloody business being and found Peyton's ring."

Lindsey's mouth dropped open in surprise, "What do you mean, Peyton's ring?"

Lucas nodded. "The ring I gave you is the ring I proposed to Peyton with. It's always been meant for her and it almost made me sick to give it to you. If you hadn't found it tucked away in the back of my drawer, I would never have asked you to marry me in a million years. There is and only ever will be one woman that I want to be my wife and that woman is Peyton Sawyer. I got scared thinking I'd get my heart broken by her again if I didn't keep you around. I was using you as shield to protect my heart from Peyton. Nothing more."

Lindsey slapped his face hard, "How could you do that to me?"

"How could you lie to me, Lindsey? We would never have gotten together if I'd known about Peyton and the book signing."

Lindsey sighed, "That happened three years ago, Lucas. We've made a life together since then. We were supposed to be married. I was going to be your wife."

Lucas shook his head, "None of that matters. Even if we'd gotten married it would have been a short time before I was divorcing you to be with her. Don't you understand that? I LOVE PEYTON! I'M IN LOVE WITH HER! I always have been. You were just…"

Lindsey started to cry, "FINE!" she shrieked through her tears. "I'll go back to New York but don't come crying to me when your precious Peyton doesn't come back to you."

"I already told you that if Peyton doesn't come back to me after everything I've done, I'll be crushed yes but I won't ever be with you. I DON'T WANT YOU, Lindsey; get that through your thick head. Go back home to your posh little apartment and your nasty little friends and ruin someone else's life." He got as close to her as he could stand and looked straight into her eyes. "I NEVER want to see you again, Lindsey, do you finally get it, not professionally and certainly not personally. Go be happy or miserable or whatever it is you want to do, just go do it somewhere that isn't here in Tree Hill."

He turned and started walking away from her.

"He'll find another way. Peyton Sawyer will never be with you. Dan will find a way to stop that from ever happening even if he has to kill her himself."

"Excuse me?" he said whipping around to face her again.

"Dan's been behind this whole thing. He offered me big money to seduce you and ruin your relationship with Peyton. He blames you for ruining his life and wanted to get even. He was finally getting what he wanted, YOUR mother but you just couldn't leave well enough alone and let them be happy together," she sneered viciously. "Now its payback time. Daddy dearest says that you took away the love of his life and now he's going to take away the love or your's." She turned from him, starting to walk away.

He rushed up behind her and grabbed her arm, pulling out his cell from his pocket, "Meet me at the river court," he said simply disconnecting the call. "You're going to tell me and Nathan everything, Lindsey or I'll make goddamn sure you have nothing left. I'll call Mark McTavish and tell him everything. You'll lose your job, your integrity, your father's company. Hell I'll make sure you don't have a damn thing left to offer anyone."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"The hell I wouldn't! Let's go!" Lucas led the now quiet woman toward the river court where they waited for Nathan.

"What's going on, Luke?" Nathan called as he approached them at the river court. "What the hell is she still doing here? I thought she was going back to New York" he motioned toward Lindsey.

"It appears dear old Dad has been behind all this crap. Lindsey says that's how she got involved in all this," he motioned between the two of them.

Nathan looked at Lindsey, "You better start talking, lady," he snapped at the now frightened woman.

Lindsey sighed, lowered her eyes and started to talk, "Just after Luke's book was published, I got a call from Dan. He said he had an offer for me that would make me a very wealthy woman."

"You did this for money?" Lucas asked appalled.

"Well yeah, I've become very accustomed to the life I was living and wasn't ready to give it up. The money that should have been left to me in my Daddy's will actually went back into the publishing house. I thought because I was the founder's daughter, that it would assure me a life of stability, the type of life I'd been raised in. It didn't. I was in deep debt and was about to lose it all when I got a call that changed my life. Like I said he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So I didn't."

"Son of a bitch!" Nathan shouted.

"You can't fuck with people's lives like this, Lindsey."

"Better my way than Dan's, Lucas. When he first called me he asked me to kill her."

"Kill her!" the Scott brother's shrieked in unison.

Lindsey nodded, "I told him I thought this would be far more fun and watching you torture Peyton for doing nothing wrong was a real high point for him."

Lucas shook his head, "How could you be so cruel?"

She shrugged a shoulder, "If it means I keep living the high life, you'd be surprised what I could do including marrying you."

"I want you to tell me how Haley fits into all of this?" Nathan snapped.

Lindsey chuckled, "She was so easy. That girl will literally do anything to make sure Lucas makes the choices she thinks are best for him but adding the hypnotist has certainly helped."

"Hypnotist?" Nathan shrieked, "What the fuck are you talking about? You almost married this whack job," he said to Lucas. "Hypnotist?"

"You've heard of people being given a subliminal suggestion under hypnosis and being able to lose weight, quit smoking or whatever…well, Haley and I went to see one and we were joking about how much she interferes when it comes to Lucas' happiness. I told her we should fix it and whatever I say about Lucas is right. She agreed to the suggestion. Neither of us knew that it would actually work. I've had a blast with it."

"You stupid…" Nathan surged toward her and Lucas stepped in his way.

"She isn't even worth it Nate. It would put your career on the line and you can't throw away everything you've worked so hard for on the likes of her. We can have this undone and Lindsey will give us the name of the person they went to see."


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: I was asked to finish this so I'm going to give it shot; probably this chapter and one or two others. Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Playing in the sandbox but don't own the sand.

Chapter 20

Nathan took off in search of Haley and the hypnotist to undo what Lindsey had done to her and Lucas was left to deal with the woman he'd almost married.

"Where is he?" Lucas snapped.

Lindsey shrugged her shoulders, "He may be at the beach house. He may be in California. Who knows? He calls me and I meet him. I don't even have a number to contact him."

Lucas grabbed hold of her arm, "We're going to the police."

"Please, Luke, don't make me go to the cops."

"I have to do what's best for Peyton. I need to keep her safe and I need to find Dan to do that and I can't do it if you're free to cause more problems than you already have."

"I won't tell them."

"You'll tell them or I'll call the company and you'll lose everything."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," he growled.

"I could go to jail for this Lucas. I could get ten years."

"I guess you should have thought of that before you got involved with Dan Scott. Everything he touches goes to hell."

Lindsey started to cry, "If it's worth anything to you Lucas, I did fall in love with you. It wasn't supposed to happen but I did."

"You're so full of it," Lucas said angrily. "Nothing is going to stop me from taking you to the police."

"I understand you have to do what you think is best, Luke, but if Dan calls and can't reach me, Peyton will get hurt."

"What?"

"If Dan calls and can't reach me, he'll hurt Peyton. He'll probably kill her."

"Son of a bitch!" he snapped angrily.

"Let me go. I'll tell him everything's okay."

Lucas chuckled humorlessly, "You really do think I'm an idiot don't you?"

Lindsey shook her head, "No, I mean it Luke. I'll tell him I fixed everything with you. We could get married and Dan would leave her alone," she suggested.

Lucas kept a hold on Lindsey's arm as he called Peyton's cell phone.

"Hello," she said unhappily.

"Hi Peyt its Lucas. Can you meet me in the park by the river coffee shop?"

"Lucas…" she said exasperatedly.

"Please Peyton, there's someone here that can straighten this all out for you. She'll tell you the truth about everything. I promise baby, she'll fix this mess."

"Fine," she agreed. "I'll be there."

"I'll be waiting," he replied before ending the call.

She left her office and went out to the parking lot for the short drive to meet with Lucas. She wasn't sure at this point why she was even giving him the opportunity to explain because there was definitely no mistaking what she'd walked into this morning.

She pulled out onto the street and turned the radio on to her favorite station. The Cure was playing and she smiled. It was their band it had to mean something. She picked up speed as she travelled toward the river. The light at the intersection where her mother had been killed turned yellow and she put her foot on the brake…nothing. She tried again and again nothing happened. The light turned red as she approached; this couldn't be happening. She could see the truck coming up River Rd there was nothing she could do. She kept pushing her foot on the brake and she could hear the tires from the truck screeching trying to bring it to a stop before he hit her but there was nothing he could do either. The last thing she saw was the grill of the large truck colliding with the side of her beloved Comet.

Lucas paced back and forth his eyes never leaving Lindsey. He couldn't believe he'd fallen for her lies and that he had allowed himself to believe that Peyton wouldn't show up at the book signing when she'd told him she'd be there. He had so much to make up for; he just hoped she'd give him the chance.

When he'd been waiting fifteen minutes he made a call to Peyton's cell to find out what was keeping her. It went to voicemail. "Hey Peyt, its Luke; I'm waiting at the River Café for you. I promise everything will make sense when you get here. Please hurry sweetheart. I love you, I never stopped," he said ending the call.

He continued to pace and the time continued to pass. It was then that he heard the unmistakable sound of vehicles colliding; that distinctive grinding noise of metal against metal. He looked toward Lindsey and she had a knowing smirk on her face. He swallowed against the bile that rose in his throat as he registered the look on Lindsey's face.

Peyton…

God he was losing it. His mind was racing. He grabbed Lindsey's arm and dragged her toward his car.

"Where are we going?" she asked nervously.

Lucas couldn't open his mouth; he was afraid of what would happen if he did. When they reached the car he opened the passenger side door and shoved her into the seat. She attempted to get out and he glared at her; she sat back afraid of what he'd do if she actually tried to get away and he slammed the door.

"Luke," she began when he climbed into the driver's side, "I'm sorry I should…"

He swallowed hard, "Sorry. You're sorry," he scoffed. "You…you…" he shook his head. "Just shut the fuck up Lindsey. I don't want to hear your voice!"

"But Luke," she simpered.

"Not another fucking word!" he shouted angrily his eyes flashing with his barely contained fury; scaring the woman beside him into total silence.

He put the car in drive, heading out of the parking lot and putting on the blinker to turn in the direction he thought the noise had come from all the while praying that he was over reacting to what Lindsey had told him and the look she'd had on her face when they'd heard that noise. He tried to convince himself it was just taking Peyton a little longer than he thought it should to get to him.

He'd just pulled out onto the road when he heard the sirens and saw the police car racing up behind him; he pulled to the shoulder to let it pass. There was a second and a third emergency vehicle that pursued the first flying past him. He pulled back onto the road and followed in the direction they had headed.

He was just about to the intersection of River Rd and Main St when Ferguson Thompson, a police officer and one of Lucas' oldest friends stopped him, "You'll have to go around, Luke. There's been an accident and there's no way through here."

"An accident?" Lucas asked worriedly.

"Yeah, it's a bad one," he supplied. "The road will be blocked for a couple of hours."

He slammed the car into park and jumped out. "Keep Lindsey in the car, Fergie. Whatever you do don't let her leave," he said running toward the intersection.

"Luke! Luke!" he called out to his friend swearing when he didn't stop running toward the scene. 'Fuck,' he swore under his breath; this was no way for him to find out that Peyton was involved in the horrific crash.

Lindsey watched as Lucas raced off down the road and pulled open the door, "I'm just going to head home," she said putting her leg out.

Fergie shook his head, "Luke said you needed to stay in the car and that's just what you're going to do."

"You can't make me stay here."

Fergie raised an eyebrow at her and pulled out his badge, "I'm thinking I can."

She huffed and her brow furrowed as she closed the car door. She needed to get away she just wasn't sure how she was going to pull it off. With Fergie standing outside there was no way she was getting away so she pulled out her cell phone and called the number she'd told Lucas she didn't have.

Lucas ran down to the intersection and knew the moment he saw the front of the car that it was Peyton's. "Peyton!" he hollered. "Ohmygod Peyton!" he continued as he tried to make it to her. The police had a barrier put up around the accident site; an officer stopped him.

"I'm sorry sir but you can't go through here," the man told him.

"But that's my girl; that's Peyton. I have to get to her. I have to be there for her," he told him.

"I'm sorry but their loading her onto the ambulance; you can meet her at the hospital."

Lucas took off running back to his car; relieved to see that Fergie hadn't let Lindsey go, "Thanks man," he yelled jumping back in the car.

"Are you okay to drive Luke," Fergie asked seeing that wild look in his friend's eyes.

"I'll be fine," he said through the window. "I just need to get to her."

"Alright," he replied backing up to give him room to turn the car around.

"If she's not alright, I'll kill you myself," he told the woman beside him. "I swear to god," as he threw the car into gear and squealed the tires against the pavement and raced away.

Lindsey knew she was in more trouble than she knew how to deal with. Tears slid unchecked down her face, "I…I didn't know Dan was in town, Lucas."

He took his eyes off the road for just a moment, "As soon as I'm sure that Peyton is being taken care of you and me are taking a little trip downtown."

She shook her head, "Please Luke," she begged, "he'll kill me."

"Better him than me," he threatened. "Now shut up!"

They pulled into the emergency room parking lot and Lucas got out of the car, "Let's go," he said firmly grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the seat.

"I can wait here," she suggested.

He chuckled humorlessly, "Yeah, like that was ever going to happen." He held onto her wrist and led the way into the hospital. "Not a word," he snapped angrily.

She nodded her head and followed behind him.

"Can you tell me where they've taken Peyton Sawyer," he asked the woman behind the desk.

The woman behind the information counter looked through a large stack of papers; "Are you family?" she asked.

"I'm her fiancé, Lucas Scott," he said.

"Oh," she replied. "Ms. Sawyer has been taken to the operating room for emergency surgery," she explained. "If you take the elevator to the fifth floor there's a room where you can wait and I'll let the nurses know you're waiting for word."

"Thank you," he replied keeping his hold on Lindsey and leading the way inside.

"Mr. Scott?" said a man behind him.

"Yes?"

"My name is Detective Pat Martins; I'm from the NYPD," he said quickly flashing his badge, "and this is my partner Mark Rockwood."

"How can I help you, Detectives?" he asked.

"We'd like to have a word with Ms. Strauss," he replied.

Lucas' brows drew together, "I'm afraid you'll have to wait to speak to her. A very close friend of ours has been in a car accident and we need to go and make sure she's okay."

"No that's okay Luke, I can stay and talk to these gentlemen while you go check on Peyton."

He shook his head, "You're more than welcome to join us Detective," he said looking directly in Pat Martins eyes.

"Uhm no, no that's fine. We'll just wait here until you get back."

"No please," Lucas said motioning toward the elevator, "I insist."

Mark turned to him, "You can just bring Ms. Strauss to our hotel when you're done checking on your friend," he said nervously.

"Hmm, alright," he replied. "Are you staying at the Tree Hill Inn?"

"Yes," Pat answered. "That's the place."

"We'll be there."

"Okay," Mark replied heading out of the hospital.

Lucas pulled Lindsey toward elevator and they headed to check on Peyton.

They took a seat in the waiting room and began what would become a six hour vigil.

"Luke," Brooke said rushing into the room, two hours after Peyton had been in the accident.

"Brooke," he said getting up from his seat and hugging his ex-girlfriend.

"What happened?"

"She had an accident with a truck that's all I know for sure."

"Now that Brooke's here I think I'm just going to head out," Lindsey told Lucas getting to her feet.

"No stay…I insist," he said firmly grabbing ahold of her arm and pulling her back into her seat.

"What's going on Lucas?" Brooke asked looking back and forth between him and Lindsey. "And why is she here?"

"She's here because once I'm sure that Peyton is going to be okay; Lindsey and I are taking a little trip downtown to talk to the police."

"Please Lucas," Lindsey whined.

"Shut up!" he snapped at her. "Why don't you tell Brooke what's been going on Lindsey? Why don't you tell her why her best friend is in surgery? Why don't you tell her what you've done to all of us?"

Brooke looked at the woman sitting with Lucas. "Is there something you want to tell me, Lindsey?"

"I uhm…I…" she tried.

"I'm gonna kill the bitch," the familiar voice of Haley James Scott growled angrily as she and Nathan entered the waiting room. "Is it true?" she asked grabbing Lindsey by the front of her shirt.

"Haley, I…" Lindsey blew out a shaky breath. "I never meant for it to go this far. I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"You didn't want anyone to get hurt!" she shouted. "All kinds of people got hurt Lindsey…Lucas, me, Nathan, Brooke…Peyton."

Lindsey rolled her eyes, "You're not hurt, Haley, you're angry there's a difference."

"I almost lost my marriage because of you. I almost lost my best friend because of you and another of my best friends is in surgery because of you," she said angrily. "You had me hypnotized so I'd do whatever you wanted and I almost lost everything because of you."

Lindsey smirked, "You were so easy…"

Haley took a swing and Lucas stopped her hit before it reached Lindsey's face. "She's not worth it, Hales. She's going to get what's coming to her trust me. Now Lindsey tell Brooke how you're responsible for what happened to her best friend."

Brooke's eyebrow shot to the ceiling, "How are you involved in this?" she asked looking directly at Lindsey.

"Yeah, come on," Nathan said low in his throat. "Tell her everything that's happened since you got that call from Dan Scott and put your greed ahead of Peyton's life."

"Dan Scott?" Brooke asked in confusion. "You better start talking bitch."

Lindsey took a deep breath, looked up at Brooke and huffed in defeat, "You'd better sit down. It's a long story."


End file.
